


The Negative Association, or, The Moste Great Suicide Mission

by LeftHandMan



Series: Guardians [3]
Category: Guardians of the Elements
Genre: Gen, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, im a fucking edgelord in case you havent noticed, there are too many characters in this fucking shit lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 09:33:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 48
Words: 59,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeftHandMan/pseuds/LeftHandMan
Summary: The Guardians travel through dimensions to beat the shit out of space satan. Hijinks ensue.





	1. Ajay- So This Is How We're Doing It, Then?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, read the prologue with this link because I don't want to fuck up the chapter titles.  
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dn4-89LqzEd9AayuB_BGCs0ANQ1QdCvPzJ0XeesDNHw/edit?usp=sharing

“Ajay,” Ian said, puttering about the house, “have you seen my dildo?” My boyfriend, everyone.

“I- no!” I answered, “That’s not something I keep track of!”

“Well, if you see it,” he said, dipping under the couch, “tell me.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” I assured him, “I won’t.”

So yeah. February 2018, the Earth had been replaced with a more or less identical replica created by a space god, and I was a gay magical alien with a gay magical alien boyfriend and elemental powers, which are all things that have become relatively mundane. Welcome to my own personal shitshow.

“Besides,” I said to him, “don’t you have your guardstaff for butt-shoving purposes? And other dildoes? And, in dire circumstances, me? It’s not like you’re deprived of options, here.”

“Yes, but that one was a gift,” Ian said, “it’s rude to lose a dildo someone else got you.”

“Who the hell gives a dildo as a gift?!” I asked.

“Drannis,” he answered, “I think she might have misinterpreted something at one point.”

“Drannis gave you a dildo,” I said in disbelief, “please, someone tell me when I exist in a normal fucking universe.”

For the past month and a half, Ian and I had been living in a house together, in a cul-de-sac of similar houses belonging to other elemental aliens like ourselves, called Guardians. (Why am I giving this exposition? This is the third book in the series, you should fucking know what the hell is going at this point! Am I still not allowed to break the fourth wall like this? No? Okay.) The house was designed for two people to live in separately, but, for reasons which are fucking gay, we lived a little closer than the architects expected. It was made with two bedrooms, but the smaller one, which was integrated into the roof, had been converted into Ian’s nerd hole, which included his vast array of Lego models, DVDs, VHS tapes, and other assorted bullshittery.

It was also outfitted with a large couch before an equally large television set, which Solomon had personally rigged up with space magic so that it operated by thought, because that was entirely necessary. As a result,  _ one of us _ often experienced a freudian slip that conjured porn on the screen. Guess which one. I was sitting on this couch, casually observing advertisements I neither cared about, waiting for a show I only marginally cared about to return to the screen.

I looked out the window, and saw snow falling gently onto more of itself. This version of Earth was such a close facsimile that it even got the shitty-ass climate and greyscale colour scheme of Nova Scotia down to a tee. The snow was knee-high, which, for me, was not a great accomplishment, but, for Ian, was a testament to the powers of nature.

“Ah, found it!” Ian declared, holding up a long, black dildo with purple sparkles on it.

“Great,” I said with a drawl, “why did I need to see that?”

He looked at me quizzically. “I don’t know.”

“Okay, then,” I said, “go wash that off, aaand shove it somewhere.”

“Sure thing,” he said without a hint of irony. I planted my palm against my face, and sighed loudly. Why did I stick with him.

There was a knock on the door. I sighed, and got up to answer. I opened it, and Alex greeted me, wearing a large, puffy winter coat, and a glass pan of some baked goods.

“Hey,” she greeted me, “is Ian home?”

“Unfortunately,” I said, “but he’s a bit busy, I think.”

“Oh,” she said, “what’s he up to?”

“Shoving Drannis’s dildo up his ass,” I said in the most deadpan fashion I could muster.

“HA!,” she laughed, going pale and blushing simultaneously, and dropped the pan to the ground. I caught it in the air, and balanced it on one hand.

“Hup!” I exclaimed, “Watch yourself!”

“Ha, oh, I’m sorry!” she said, smiling and laughing at the situation, “Sorry, I just, I just felt like making him something. Is he really though?”

I heard a loud groan from the bedroom. “Yup.”

Alex chuckled, and blushed a bit more. “Well, uh, make sure he gets these. See y’all later, my dudes.”

“Later, man,” I said with a smile, shutting the door. Ian moaned loudly again, and I shouted back at him, “Quiet down, would ya?! I’m trying to watch my show!”

“I’ll tRY!” he said, not trying. Why did I let him do things?

I peeled the tinfoil wrapping off the pan, and discovered a deep, warm trove of brownies embedded in it. Trying to be slick, I took out my guardstaff, and made the smallest, most delicate knife I could manage, and tried to cut one out for myself.

But, because the knife was made of fucking fire, I burned the brownies. “Shit!” I exclaimed, watching it go up in flames. I sucked the flames back in, and the brownies only suffered minimal casualties. My piece, however, was one of these casualties. Damn.

There was a loud thud on the roof. “Oh, dammit,” I cursed, “Ian! Gordon’s on the roof again! Get that thing out of your ass and come get him down!”

Gordon climbed down from the roof, and clung upside-down from the wall, glaring at me from the window. He wasn’t really my biggest fan ever since he was reanimated. I heard something pop in the bedroom, and Ian waddled out in his underwear.

“Shoo! Shoo!” he said, waving the winged Demiguard away. Gordon came off the side of the building, and flew over to Solomon’s house next door, managing to give me a death glare the whole way. 

“We need to do something about him,” I recommended.

“Why’s that?” Ian said, adjusting himself.

“He just doesn’t really seem like himself,” I explained, “he seems more like a zombie bird than a dude. Maybe we should bring the Council together, give him a tuneup and whatnot.”

“Maybe,” Ian mused, stroking his butt, “but I should probably, like, take a shower before we get into any world-changing space magic shenanigans. Care to join?”

“Nope,” I denied him, “I will be here doing normal people things. You go shove soap up there, or whatever the hell you do.”

He kissed me quickly on the neck, and vanished to the bathroom. I sat back down on the couch, and resumed my show. Then, my freud slipped, and porn overwrote my progress with it. “Son of a bitch. Ugh, why can’t we just have a fucking remote like normal people do?”

I tried to change the channel with my impressive psychic abilities, but Sigmund kept tossing down banana peels. I gave up, and pulled down my pants. But, just then, my head started aching something terrible. 

My vision went dull, then my hearing. If I was sure of my positioning in the physical world, I think I had fallen down as well. Then, something overwrite my dulled senses. I was seeing through someone else’s eyes, feeling someone else’s body.

“Any word of other dimension rifts?” someone asked my proxy. They wore dark brown armour, mottled with black. They looked like a Guardian, except the armour plates had been sharpened, and looked like they could cut into their skin at any moment. They bulged with muscles, and was far taller than I was.

“I took care of it,” my body answered. Weird, it sounded like my voice. I brushed it off, because space magic pulls too much bullshit too often for me to actually decipher anything. “The Guardians are all dead.”

“It’s too bad about Nick,” they said, “what did you do with the body?”

“Kicked it,” I said with a sneer, “he doesn’t deserve much more. How’s Pherosa?” I looked over to a black, coffin-like box, that rattled and screamed, clearly keeping someone captive inside of itself.

“Adjusting,” they said, “she doesn’t like the spikes, though. I wish there was somewhere less painful we could keep her.”

I pulled my arm back, and punched the coffin at full force, and the captive roared at me. “I don’t mind it,” I said, sneering at the container.

“How about we check on the colonies?” I asked them.

“You go right ahead,” they said, picking up some bits of metal to tinker with, “my talents are best used elsewhere.”

I held up the hilt of something that looked like a guardstaff, and a titanic blade emerged from it, glowing with shadowy red flames. “See you later, then,” I said, grinning. I stepped out of the room, and suddenly my sense numbed again, and I returned to my body, indeed on the floor. 

I stumbled to my feet, and zipped my pants up. “Ian?” I called. I rushed to the bathroom, just to check on him. I opened the door, and swept my gaze over to the shower. He was fine, and actually using it for showering purposes for once.

“Eep!” he squealed, trying to cover himself up. “Knock first!”

“I know what your ass looks like!” I snapped at him, “Besides, you’re one to fucking talk. Get your ass dressed, we’re going to see Solomon about a thing.”

“Do I have to come?” he asked.

“Fine, you stay here, I’ll talk to Solomon,” I agreed, “but don’t keep shoving things!”

“Won’t make promises,” he said, “see you later, man.”

“See ya,” I said, and closed the door behind me. I had to see a man about a dream.


	2. Ajay- On De Moon (THE MOON?!)

I stepped from the house, and walked briskly over to Solomon’s house, confident in my own heat, melting the snow as I walked. It was snowing fairly heavily today, but this was a non-issue, thanks to me being a magical demigod with fire powers.

I knocked on the door, and waited for someone to answer. The door opened a crack, locked from the inside with one of those chain things that’s always on hotel doors. An eye peered out at me through the crack. Jane, Solomon’s surrogate daughter, had answered. “Who is it?” she asked.

“Ajay,” I answered, “I need to talk to Solomon about something.”

“He’s out,” she answered, and closed the door in my face.

“I- argh,” I muttered, and knocked again.

She answered through an even smaller crack this time. “What is it?”

“I need to know where Solomon is,” I said.

“The moon,” she answered.

“Oh, okay,” I said, taking in the absurdity of the situation, “sounds normal enough. Why’s he on the moon?”

“He says it’s orbiting too low,” she answered, “he took the Destiny Engine with him to fix it.”

“Huh,” I said, “I was wondering what happened to that thing.”

“See you later,” she said briskly, and shut the door on me. Okay, now all I have to do is get to the moon. Easy peasy. Luckily, I knew where Solomon kept his secret stash of spaceships, which is a thing that exists for some reason.

I stepped away from the door, and I heard Gordon shuffling on top of the roof. “Could you quit that shit?” I asked him. He just kept shuffling as if I had said nothing. Ian was right, we needed to do something about him.

  
  
  


I landed at the school, having flown for only a few minutes or so. For some reason, the same fucking shitass highschool that had been destroyed, rebuilt, then left on a ruined planet had become a fixture. At the door, I saw Xander and Cornelius loitering, partaking in orange juice cans. I gave them a wave, and passed into the school building.

The layout was the same as before, including the ancient, blocky computer monitors that were the most major form of technology in the building. Why? Because fuck you, that’s why. I wandered into the library, pulled the Twilight-disguised trigger, and descended into the secret spaceship hangar, which, once again, is somehow a real thing that exists.

I stepped into a spaceship, somehow managed to get it to fly out of there, and soared off into the sky.

“I can’t believe this shit,” I said to myself, “I’m flying in a motherfucking UFO to the motherfucking moon to meet my motherfucking immortal space teacher about a motherfucking space vision. How is this a real thing. Why is this life. Fuck.”

I broke through the atmosphere, and laid back in the seat as the ship continued its course to the moon.

Not too much later, I had arrived at the orbiting celestial body, which is a sentence filled with normal words that normal people say, and landed on the grey rock and dust of the moon.

I slipped on my armour, and stepped out onto the moon. Surprisingly, I didn’t do a space bounce. Guess that’s what happens when your magic space powers are lame as shit. What did happen though, was I got sucked out onto the surface by the air pressure trying to equalize. I went flying, which was somewhat normal because my magic space suit has wings. It’s been almost two years now and I still have no idea what the fuck is going on with any of this shit.

“Fuck,” I swore, floating off into the moon-sky. I came back down again, though, and spent a brief amount of time searching for Solomon. I found him, sitting outside another ship, completely exposed to the absentee atmosphere, wearing his suit and holding the Destiny Engine between his legs as he sat almost meditating with it.

“Hey,” I said, “the fuck are you doing out here?” I expected he wouldn’t hear me, but, because, like I said, space magic, he turned his head in acknowledgement.

He stood up, holding the Engine in his hands. “Ajay? What the hell are  _ you _ doing up here?” he asked, because apparently the absence of air isn’t a problem anymore.

“I had a space vision,” I said, “I need your help, Obi-Wan Kenobi, trademark Lucasfilm and Disney.”

“Did you just say that out loud?” he asked, thoroughly and deeply confused.

“Maybe not out loud, given the space,” I said, “but it came out of my mouth.

“How did you know I would be here?” he asked.

“Jane gave me a tip,” I answered, “now, about the visions?”

“Honestly, I thought that I had taught that girl well enough,” he rambled, “you don’t open doors to strangers!”

“Solomon!” I refocused him, “Visions!”

“Right, erm, sorry,” he apologized, “listen, just let me readjust the orbit, and I’ll-”

“Solomon, you love explaining things,” I reinforced, “for once, explain something that I want explained. Put down the god machine, and explain why I’m seeing weird shit.”

“... Alright,” he agreed, “I’ll explain what you need explained. But, once I’m done, you will let me put this celestial body back in place.”

“Sounds good,” I concurred, “now, let’s get inside, it’s fucking freezing out here.”

“You can’t feel the cold out here,” Solomon argued, “your armour is an environmental-”

“It’s jokes,” I said, patting him on the back, and walking up into his ship. 

  
  
  


I explained my weird vision to him, tactfully leaving out the part where I was taking my pants off, and he frowned at me with concerned dismay.

“Ajay,” he began, “did you absorb any… auxiliary information?”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Anything that you could infer from the projected host’s mind,” he replied, “any information that you just… knew, from being in their body. A name, perhaps? Any of their history?”

“No,” I answered, “it just felt like being me. It even had my voice. I think that’s just a dream thing, though.”

“Well,” he said, “I’m sorry, but, unless I have more information, there’s not much I can discern from this. Do you, perchance, have any theories to offer me?”

“Uh, I have one, I think,” I replied, “but… what happened to Chaos?”

He frowned, and furrowed his brow. “I spread his pieces far enough that they should not pose any problem within any realm of plausibility.”

“Okay, well,” I said, getting up, “I’ll just hop on back to my actual spaceship and get back to my cloned planet. See ya later.” I went to the door, but, suddenly the numbing returned. I returned to this alternate body, and found myself in some kind of throne room. Titanic walls of black marble formed a cathedral of shadows, etched with intricate detailing that seemed like archaic writing.

“Magmortarus,” a commanding, booming voice called, “how go the colonies?” I looked up to the source, and saw a hideous conglomerate of shapes, wrapped in shadows. Faces peeked out from behind the swirling cloak of darkness, snapping with monstrous teeth, but no distinct body could’ve been discerned from what I saw.

“You tell me,” I said to it, retracting my sword and letting crusted blood fall to the floor.

The hidden voice chuckled. “Excellent. And what of Pherosa?”

“She’s still contained,” I answered, “her conversion is coming along well, as I understand.”

“Good,” the voice said, and laughed again, “she will break. We’re lucky that Tecta turned herself over. Otherwise, we would be having a very different conversation. And what of the Guardians?”

“Dead,” I answered, “I made sure of it. Master, I would recommend an elemental vacuum on this universe. They managed to put together the Council, I think. We can’t risk any interference with our plans.”

“They will not pose a threat,” it answered, “and if they do, you Knights are more than well equipped to kill them.”

I chuckled, this time, evidently sure of myself. “Thanks for the compliment. But still, you might want to watch the holes in your net.” I turned, and began to walk out of the cathedral. I looked up, and saw a stained glass window above me.

It was made of red glass, but a symbol made of black stone hung in the middle of it. An omega.

I snapped back into my body, thankful that my suit had stayed on. “GUH!” I exerted, taking a gasping breath. “I- huh- I think- huh- I think I have the information you wanted.”


	3. Alex- Alter Ego

“Hey, I’m home,” I said, taking off my heavy coat as I entered the house.

“Eat my ass,” Lena said from her room.

“I prefer beef,” I joked. I sat down on the couch, and turned on the TV. I was glad Solomon hadn’t installed that weird thought-remote-control thing he had given just about everyone else, and I could actually control it with my people hands and technology brick. Something news-y played, and I changed the channel to something that I actually want to watch and wouldn’t horribly aggravate my mental illness. Star Wars is good. I put on Star Wars.

Lena came out, and slapped me on the back of the head in the way that I knew she wasn’t actually pissed at me. “I’m going out for a fuck,” she said, “later, slut.”

“I don’t think you’re using the word right,” I told her.

“Tough shit,” she said, and slammed the door.

I shrugged, and watched the archaic text scroll float by. Paragraphs in space are fun. Suddenly, I felt myself convulse. My muscles stiffened and froze, and my senses vanished. I wanted to scream for help, but I couldn’t tell if I even existed anymore.

Then, someone else’s senses replaced mine. I was in some cave, tinkering away at some device. Looked to me like a guardstaff, but more angular, with wires sticking out the sides, wrapping around to a very different tip. It was almost like that of a broadsword, designed with a crossguard, bringing to mind Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. 

My surrogate turned it in her hand, and held it out before her. It flickered, and tried to shape itself into something, but it didn’t work. “Argh,” my proxy grumbled, and smashed her product on the table.

“That thing really doesn’t like you,” someone said. I turned, and saw someone with white-blue armour, each plate sharpened and angular.

“Glacies,” I regarded her, “of course now is when you show up. Just when I break it. Anything you have to say for yourself?”

She chuckled. “Not much. Say, how’s Pherosa?”

“Sleeping,” I answered, looking to a coffin-like contraption, “I wish we didn’t have to keep her like this. It’s cruel.”

“It has to happen,” Glacies replied, “she needs to be convinced. We all had our breaking points, we all had our reasons. She’s just a weapon.”

I paused for a moment, thinking of something. “I hope we don’t have to fight any more Guardians. All they do is fuck up our timetables.”

“It’s no big deal,” she replied, “it’s not like they’re the real ones.”

“Well, for me, you’re not the real one,” I said, “you already died, for me.”

She paid it no mind. “Well, I’m going to check in with the boss,” she said, “you keep at the… what did Maggie call them?”

My avatar chuckled at the name Maggie. “He calls them knighthilts,” I answered, “because we gotta have them naming conventions.”

She laughed, too. “Well, see you later, Tecta.”

“Later,” I said, picking the broken shards back up. She waved goodbye, and left out the cave entrance. My senses evaporated again, and I returned to my body.

“Shit!” I cried out, taking in my surroundings. “Is that what Ajay feels like when he dreams? Shit, man.”

“Look how old you’ve become,” Kylo Ren said on the TV.

“Thanks for the compliment,” I told him, as I paused the movie, and put my jacket back on. I needed to talk to someone else. I stepped outside, and saw Lena, lying in the snow, unconscious, her arm retracted into her body.

“Come here, you,” I said, lifting her into my arms. I carried her back into the house, and wiped the snow off of her. I patted her face, trying to wake her up. 

“Hey, hey,” I prodded her, “you okay?”

She grunted, and turned her head. “I want to fucking kill you.”

“You’re good,” I assumed, “what were you doing in the snow?”

“It hurt,” she muttered, “is that what pain feels like?”

“What?” I asked.

“I was getting fucking spiked,” she answered, “it hurt like hell. Mind if I show you?”

“Please don’t,” I said, taking a nervous step back, “listen, you stay here, and I’m going to go talk to Solomon.”

“The fuck I will,” she said, and pushed past me.

“Lena,” I pleaded, “please just- oh, fuck it. Wait for me!”

“You wish, bitch!”

  
  
  


We walked over to Solomon’s house, and Jane told us that he was out on the moon, so, naturally, we went home to wait for updates on the idiot situation. So, we waited through Force Awakens, and, just as Starkiller base went to shit, my senses blurred again, and I was back in this Tecta chick’s body. It was weird… it felt like my own. Dream shit, I suppose.

I was still working on the knighthilt, but, because of that last fit of rage, the pieces were a bit bent. I connected a wire, and the thing chugged and sputtered, and. Suddenly, a smoking brown blade emerged from the end. “There we go,” I said.

Someone stepped into the room again. It was Glacies again. “Hey, finally got that thing to work?” she asked.

“Hell yeah,” I answered, “these new elements are hard to work with. Old Guardian tech doesn’t mingle well with em. Wish we coulda kept the old shit.”

“Eh,” she said, “I wasn’t so attached to mine.”

“Well, time for a field test, I guess,” I said, a smile forming on my face, “give it a try.”

Glacies held it in her hand, and the blade shifted from smokey brown to pale blue. Then, it changed shape. It became a poleaxe.

“This should do nicely,” she said, “see you later.”

“You too,” I said, and the vision cut out.

“Oh, son of a bitch,” I said, coming to my senses, “I need to get this shit checked out. Come on, we’re going to the school.”

  
  
  
  


Lena and I waited at the school entrance, accompanied by Xander and Cornelius, who were there for some unknowable, inconceivable reason.

“Sooo,” I tried to converse, “you guys come here often?” They both glared at me with contempt. At least they weren’t trying to stab us, for once. That was an improvement. If I had had something to drink, I would’ve been sipping anxiously at it. 

Lena growled at them, and rolled up the sleeve on her guardstaff arm. “Remember this, bitch?”

“Oh, yeah,” Xander remarked, “I remember you’re batshit insane.”

“I remember you were trying to fucking kill us,” Lena shot, “mind if I return the favour?”

“Can we please not do this?” I pleaded.

“No, I wanna do this,” Xander said, squaring up to Lena. “I wanna see who the hell this bitch thinks she is.”

I stepped between the two of them. “Hey, no maiming. No fighting, no… cutting off limbs! We’ve already had more than enough of that.”

“You can never have too much of a good thing,” Xander said, jutting his chin out at Lena. I pushed them both back.

“Corn, help me with this!” I requested.

He took a sip of his drink. “Nah.”

The pair of them pushed towards each other, and I put on my armour as a precaution. “Both of you chill out, or I break out the boulders.”

Just then, a pair of spaceships broke through the atmosphere. “Oh, thank fuck,” I said, relieved.

The ships came down, and landed in the parking lot. Solomon stepped out of one, and Ajay out of the other.

“Perfect,” Solomon said, rubbing his hands together, “Ajay, you bring these four to the Core, I’ll go grab the others. Make sure they’re caught, up, as well.”

“Wait, what’s happening?” I asked.

“Fuckin’ beats me,” Ajay said, “all I know is that space shit keeps happening in my head and it’s fuckin’ weird.”

“You too?” I asked.

“Yep,” he answered, “and it is somehow a regular occurrence that my head is fucked with by space shit. Quick question, why is this life?”

“Heh, I ain’t think anyone’s answering that one any time soon,” I joked, “all aboard the UFO, I guess.”

“Wake me up when things get normal,” he said, taking the helm.

“Nighty, night, then,” I said, shepherding the others in, and taking my own seat. Off to space we go.


	4. Alex- The Power of Alpha And Anime On My Side

While Ajay flew the ship through bootleg hyperspace, I was forced to act as the moderator between the warring factions of crazy lady and goth dude. Good times. More or less, I stood directly between them and hoped not to get shot. Or punched. Or stabbed. Hopefully none of those. They each moved in a circle opposing the other, making me feel like Chris Pratt in a dinosaur pen. 

“Ajay,” I said, turning slowly to match the pair of them, “how much longer do we have to go?”

“Two hours,” he said flatly.

“Shit,” I said, still protecting them both from each other. “So, uh, anyone got any stories to tell?” I tried. 

“How ‘bout the one where I cut this bitch’s arm off,” Xander said threateningly.

“I cut my own fuckin’ arm off, dumbass!” Lena snapped.

“Well, that didn’t work,” I floundered, “uh, jokes! Does anyone know any jokes?”

“Knock knock,” Lena began, “that’s me beating your skull in!”

“That’s not the proper format of the joke, but, points for trying, I guess,” I attempted, “anyone else? Jokes? Puns? I got puns, anyone want puns?”

“Shut the hell up and let me kill her,” Xander requested.

“Yeah, let’s see which of us can kill the other first,” Lena agreed.

“Quit it with the murder back there!” Ajay commanded, “Whichever of you what does the killin’ has to clean the fuckin’ stains. Pretty soon that  _ whichever’s _ gonna be me.”

The next two hours were much the same. I tried to diplomify my way out of the situation, but they both found a way to turn it against me no matter what. For a good two hours, I stood between the two warring idiots, and functioned as the resident meatshield. More than once, I had to absorb a blow meant for someone else.

Eventually, the ship slowed to a sub-light halt, and I saw the planets of the Core come into view. “Oh, thank fuck,” I praised, “finally!” Right beside us, another ship popped into existence.

“Hello there,” Solomon said over the comms.

“Hi! I’m here also!” Ian chimed in, “So’re like, the other fucking nine of us.”

“There’s five of us,” Killian corrected him, “six if you count my sister as a person.” There was a loud thwack, and Killian yelped in pain. “What was that for?”

“You talked,” Absinthe spat.

“Be quiet, the both of you,” Solomon reprimanded them, “or else I'm throwing the pair of you out the airlock.”

“There isn't an airlock on thi-” Ian began.

“You shut up, too,” Solomon silenced him.

“Fair,” he quietened.

More ships appeared in front of me, flying quickly from their home planets, and towards the blazing white sun. 

“Can I kill him now?” Lena asked.

“Again, no!” I told her, “No killing! Killing is bad!”

“Are you talking about me?” Killian asked.

“Not you!” I said, “But you are also bad! For entirely separate but similar reasons!”

In a lapse of attention, Lena slipped her guardstaff arm underneath my gaze, and punched Xander into the wall of the ship.

“Hey! What did I just say?” I scolded her.

“Wasn't listening,” she fibbed, “now let me kill him?”

“Pardon?” Killian called.

“Not you, ya slurry-licking fuckface!” Lena insulted him.

“Please never say 'slurry’ ever again,” Ajay requested.

“Let me handle this!” I snapped at him.

“Everyone SHUT UP!” Solomon demanded, “There's less than a minute left until we arrive, so  _ please,  _ refrain from any further brutalization of each other!”

Xander got to his feet, and clicked something back into place. “I ain't makin’ promises,” he said, looking like he was ready to deal a killing blow.

“Alright, then neither am I,” I declared. I threw a punch at Lena’s head, knocking her out and back into the wall. “There,” I said, shaking my hand to ease the pain, “that should hold for about twelve seconds. How much longer we got?”

“Two minutes,” Ajay answered.

There was a long awkward silence. Then, I decided to ask Cornelius and Xander a question. “So… how long have you two known each other?” Xander glared at me, but Cornelius casually took out something to whittle at. “Very… very riveting discussion,” I tried, twiddling my conversational thumbs, “uhh, seen any movies lately?”

“Well, I saw-” Cornelius began, before Xander put his hand over his mouth.

“Shut up,” he commanded.

He mumbled something that sounded like, “I thought you liked me?”, and Xander replied with, “Not that much.”

The ship broke through the barrier of the Core, and we arrived back in the cathedral’s courtyard, now lit by some invisible noonday sun. The ship landed, and the ramp lowered. I carried Lena out of the ship over my shoulder, and we stepped out into the midsummer sunlight. 

Before us, the cathedral's stained glass windows shimmered in the light, glowing with spectacular colour, the formerly dull-looking but detailed visage of Alpha and their Guardians glistening beautifully.

“I love this place, man,” I announced.

“Meh,” Ajay shrugged, “it's a church, it's got God in it, so what?”

“Oh, ye of little perspective,” I said, “you are one hell of a good pessimist.”

“It’s a rewarding hobby, I'll admit,” he joked, “not the most glamorous but someone's gotta do it.”

I laughed. “Leave that one to the emo kids, man. I ain't think it pays that well.”

He laughed with me, and we pushed into the cathedral. Alpha sat at the end as per usual, but the organization of the chairs was a little different than before. I found my seat, and I now had Ajay on one side, and Lena on the other. Ajay’s chair was made of beautifully patterned golden flames, and Lena’s looked like a glorified high-chair.

“I'm going to smite whatever ass-cruncher came up with this chair,” she said.

“... Why and how would you crunch  _ ass? _ ” Ajay asked.

“I dunno, you tell me,” Ian interjected.

“Okay, uh, never say that again,” Ajay warned him, “or else I might have to kill you.”

“Not if I get there first,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Ajay gave him a stern, concerned glare, and Ian hunched back into his seat. “Did I go too far?”

“If you're asking the question, then you know the answer,” Ajay fumed.

There was another uncomfortable silence. “You guys cool?” I asked them.

“We're fine,” Ajay answered for the both of them.

“Alrighty then,” I said, trying to diffuse the tension. The rest of the Council trickled through the door, and, finally, Solomon shut them behind himself, and took his seat, unsurprisingly now the closest to Alpha's. He gave Alpha a go-ahead gesture, and Alpha began their speech.

“Thank you all for coming here,” Alpha said, “and thank you to the newcomers, as well. I am honoured by your presences.” They stood up, and strode to the center of the hall. “Today, there are two separate issues I have brought forth. The first of which, is the resurrection of a certain individual. Gordon Walker, please step forward.”

Gordon, who had been hanging out in the corner, stepped out before Alpha. “As you can see,” Alpha explained, “Gordon is a bit more alive than most candidates for resurrection.” There was some chuckling from the council, including myself. “But,” Alpha resumed, “his life was taken from him about two years ago by the late Guardian Chaos.” There was some unsettled commotion from the council. “But, in keeping with his trend of corrupting the dead, Chaos implanted this boy with a modified Stone of Sound, reanimating him as a shadow of himself. He has regained some of his individuality, but, Solomon, myself, and a few others request that we gift him his complete self back. Does anyone stand in opposition to this?”

There was a brief moment of silence, then, someone spoke up. “What has he done to earn this resurrection?” Killian asked.

“What has he done?” Solomon said incredulously, “He gave his life in defense of another!”

“But for what reason?” Killian argued, “What good did it do? As I understand, the person he gave his life for couldn't have died if he wanted to.”

“None,” Alpha answered, “and it is for that reason he deserves it. His life was given in vain, and I regret that I let him stay this way for this long. Does anyone have any further objections?”

Again, silence. “Then it is settled,” Alpha decreed, “now, it is time to return life to this child.”

Alpha put their hands on Gordon's shoulders, and, instinctively, I placed my own hands on the table before me. I closed my eyes, and could feel energy flowing from my palms through the table and through the ground, up towards Gordon and Alpha. It surged and swelled, filling my heart and mind a warm feeling, that I could only accurately describe as being… comforting. Deeply, basically, comforting.

I took a sharp breath as the power flow came to a stop, and opened my eyes. In the center of the room, Gordon stood, finally in his own clothes. He smiled, and observed his hands. He turned, and gave Alpha a grateful hug. He signed something, and Alpha replied, “It is no burden, child. In fact, a great weight has been lifted.”

Gordon signed again, and Alpha laughed. “No, child, only stay if that is your wish,” they said, “we have another matter to deal with, and I would be honoured to have you in our company.” Gordon nodded and smiled, and returned to his corner, and Alpha returned to their seat.

“Now,” they said, “I ask that we all open a portal to the other dimension. Our scouts are likely long done with gathering their information. It is certainly the right time to check in on them.”

Like before, we gathered our energies, and observed as the ground began to ripple and warp, and the dimensional portal was torn open. 

Then, to the shock of everyone, something flew up from the portal. Five elemental stones hung in midair, then flew off, phasing through the windows and doors. The council muttered and gasped, and I heard Jane squeal before covering her mouth.

“Does that- does that mean what I think it means?” Ian asked.

“I am afraid so,” Alpha answered mournfully. “Our scouts… have perished.”


	5. Ajay- Ah, Crap.

Nobody was sure how to react to this news. In our moment of shock, the portal had closed on us.

“Nick!” Absinthe cried.

“Oh nooo,” I said, failing to pretend that I have a shit about him, “he's deaaad.”

Alex backhanded the back of my head. “Ow!” I whispered, “What the hell was that for?!”

“That's not how you react to death!” she scolded me.

“It's not how  _ you _ react to death,” I said.

“Pretty soon you're the one who'll need to be reacted to,” Lena threatened.

“Just shut up! Both of you!” Alex enforced. Lena and I exchanged glares, but ceased our tomfoolery.

Alpha stood up. “It appears that… that the threat we face is more dire than I once thought. I… I do not know where we go from here.”

“We send in weapons,” a scruffy old man in grey said, “that's what we agreed on, wasn't it?”

“Yes,” Solomon agreed sadly, “but we still have no idea what we are up against, and any weapons would be uninformed in their creation, and would already be useless without anyone to wield them. Open the portal again, m-maybe there's something more we can glean from this.”

We gathered our powers again, and the rift opened. Solomon stood up, and gazed down into it. He gasped in shock, and the portal broke down, and sealed shut.

“What did you see, Solomon?” Alpha asked.

“At the bottom, th-there was,” he stuttered, more afraid than I had ever seen him, “there was a name, engraved on the walls of their camp. It- it was- it was Dark Omega.”

Gasps erupted about the room, accompanied by a few incredulous denials.

“I was afraid of this,” Solomon said, “for every potential victory, there is a potential loss. And for every potentiality, there is a universe in which it came to fruition.”

There was more contemplative silence, then Alex spoke up. “So.. what the hell are we gonna do about it, then?”

“What do you mean?” someone in yellow asked. 

“This Dark Omega fucker's still out there,” she elaborated, “we know what he's like, we know what he's capable of, and we beat him before! What's stopping us from doing it again?”

“Yes, but,” a man in blue interjected, “he has power over the entire universe. What chance do we have to stand against him now?”

“The same chance we had before,” Alex confirmed, “and guess what? We did it before! Hell, we probably have a better chance now than we did then! We can do this!”

“So,” an older woman in silver-black armour said, “does this mean your comrades are willing to go into that dimension to combat this Dark Omega by themselves?”

“What? No,” I tried to get out of it, “I never agreed to this!”

“Well, they certainly have the capacity to do this,” Solomon pondered, “but their willingness is subject.”

“Yes! Let's not send us in!” I shouted.

“Pussy,” Lena spat, “listen, bitches, I'm popping down that shithole and takin’ out as many space fuckers as I can. Which of you sluts are with me?”

Alex raised her hand. “I'm doing it. Even if nobody else is, I'm going to try, dammit!” Gordon stepped forward as well, and crossed his arms. He stamped his foot in confirmative defiance.

“Alpha,” Solomon spoke, “I am afraid I cannot go on this mission. I need to watch over Jane, and I cannot allow her onto this battlefield!” I heard Jane whimper a little as he spoke. She didn't want to lose him.

Alpha sighed. “Then the pair of you shall remain. I must first say that, if one of you wishes to leave for this fight, you must have another of your element in this realm. We want you to return home, remember.”

Xander raised his hand, too. “I'm going to lay a beatdown on my old man. I'm in this for the revenge; old fuck needs to be taught a thing or two.”

Cornelius stood up, but Xander pushed him back down. “Not you, prettyboy,” Xander said, “you're useless in a fight.”

“Useless?! Why, I-” he began.

“Shut up, or I don't fuck you ever again,” Xander threatened. Cornelius sat down in his seat, and grumbled indignantly.

“Xander,” Alpha said, “you, by your nature as the last of your kind, cannot leave this dimension. The portal requires all thirty-one of us to open, if you are on the other side, it cannot be opened, ever again! Please, you cannot do this.”

Xander sat back in his seat, and huffed, producing a quiet but aggressively defiant tune. “You can't open the portal without me, then, either.”

“Xander, you will obey my wishes!” Alpha said forcefully. Xander slouched back in his seat, but didn't continue to resist.

Alpha sighed. “Solomon, do your students have counterparts?”

“Yes ma- Alpha,” he answered, “but I feel that they would require a guide, but I still must watch over Jane.”

“A child is easily cared for,” Alpha said, “Jane, do you think you could manage without Solomon for a short time? I assure you, I can find a suitable caretaker for yourself.” Jane frowned, deeply afraid, but nodded. “Thank you, child. Is everyone in agreement, then?” 

Alex, Gordon, Ian, Lena, and I all nodded in agreement. Solomon stood up, and voiced his consent. “Then it’s settled. We're going on a field trip,” he said, smiling nervously. 

“Then let us open the portal once again,” Alpha said, standing up, “and venture into the unknown.” 

We reached out, focusing, and tearing the portal open for the third fucking time today, and it rippled into existence on the floor. We all stood up, and marched around to the edge of the rip. I stood at the precipice, and gazed down into a shadowy void, flecked with ethereal rainbow confetti.

I took a deep breath, and held Ian’s hand tightly. “Just like old times,” I assured him.

“I hope not,” he quipped, cracking a smile.

“Y'all ready for this?” Alex asked, almost talking to herself.

“Born for it,” Lena said, drawing a sword from her arm.

“On my count,” Solomon said, “one, two-”

“Wait, do we go three? Or go? Cuz I'm not really-” Ian interjected.

“Three!” Solomon exclaimed, and jumped in, plunging himself into the darkness. Lena screamed a battle cry, and threw herself down, Alex trailing behind her.

“You ready, man?” Ian asked, his whole body trembling.

“Yeah,” I said. I whipped around, flinging him by the hand into the door, and leapt down the hole. I wasn't letting him do this. I was plummeting through the shadows of the void between worlds, and saw the portal seal closed above me. “Sorry, man,” I said into the void, “not happening.”

Then, just as the portal was sealing, another figure leapt down it. “Who the hell…?” I asked. Quickly, I could feel air beneath me, and I switched my armour on before anything could break. I collided with hard stone, and exclaimed in pain as I hit it.

“Shit!” I cried. Alex, fully upright, pulled me to my feet.

“Hey,” she asked, “where's Ian?” Then, the mystery man who had jumped down at the last second fell through the portal on this end, and it sealed behind him.

“Looks like you're all stuck with me,” he said. Clad in orange armour, and carrying his signature blade, was Xander.


	6. History- An Unfortunate Altercation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: this is the one with... uh... "not rope".

Eombra was not regarded with much opinion in either direction. She kept to herself, was known for being exceptionally beautiful, was of generally average intelligence and skill, and was, more or less, the most unimpressive person she knew. She often left very little impact on those she encountered, but they regarded her kindly, their reactions to her often revealing of the person they were. 

She walked down the streets of the city of Overshade, carrying with her a clutch of groceries she promised to bring to her parents, as her father had broken his leg the week before, and her mother spent most of her time taking care of him to begin with.

She gazed up at the dark, clouded sky, hoping to see some sun for once in her life. The planet of Shadow was not known for its vistas, but for its powerful industry and political produce. She stared back down at her shoes, and saw the pavement as she passed it by. She turned into a drugstore, and pushed the door open with her unoccupied hand. 

She perused the aisles, in search of pain medication to bring to her father, and brought a single cannister up to the cashier. 

“That’s 7.83 credits,” the cashier said. Eombra handed her a ten-credit bill, and took the medicine back.

“Thanks,” she said with a smile, and stepped gracefully from the store. As she left, a man in a dark red coat strode up next to her.

“Hey,” he said to her.

“Hi,” she replied, paying him no mind, and staring down at her feet.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Oh, just things for my dad,” she answered, “he broke his leg.”

“Too bad for him,” the man said with a scoff, “but why should you care?”

“Because he’s my dad,” she answered, “why wouldn’t I?”

“How old is he?” the man pressed.

“Seventy-three,” Eombra answered, “but what does-”

“Ah, he’s an old-timer, then,” he said arrogantly, “why does anyone take care of old people? What’s even the point? I mean, all they do is take up resources, suck up meds, and die in their sleep.”

“That’s an awful way to think of a person,” she said, “they’re still-”

“They don’t matter,” he said, leaning towards her as they walked, “they’re  _ worthless!  _ You don’t need to do anything for that old bastard.”

She turned to him. “I’m sorry, but who the hell do you think you’re-” He grabbed her by the throat, and pulled her down an alley, the groceries and medicine tumbling from her grip as he did so.

“He doesn’t matter,” he said, taking hold of her arm, and forcing his other hand over her mouth. “If you think he does, well, then, you’re part of the problem.”

She tried to scream for help, but he clamped his hand tighter. He shoved her down and to the side, and she fell to the ground. Her head went numb, and couldn’t think to resist as he descended on her. 

“You-” she managed, but was cut short when he brought out a guardstaff, and a burning whip spilled from the end.

“One more word,” he said, leaning down and poising himself over her, “and this whip finds a home. Scream, and it starts digging.” She shuddered in fear, and he bit into her cheek. The whip became a knife, and he started to cut away her clothes. 

The knife etched flame-cut scars into her skin, but she didn’t scream or cry out under the threat of his wrath. She honestly didn’t know which would’ve been worse; to die there, or let him continue.

He cut the last of her garments away, and she was lying there, bared to the world, and he exposed himself in the slightest way. Small tears formed in her eyes, as he forced himself within her. He grinned cruelly, and breathed hot air on her face. She tried to turn her face away, but he forced her to look him in the eye.

“What?” he said, pushing deep and breathing heavily, “Don’t you like how I look?”

“Please,” she pleaded, trying to briefly to escape, “let me go!”

He fell onto her body. “I’m the one with the power here,” he said, “try again, and I hold up my end of the bargain.” She whimpered, but held strong against his assault.

He pushed in harder and harder, each vicious thrust like a dagger through her mind. He laughed as he did it, and she wished that he would kill her right there. Then, she felt something warm flow up inside her. Her heart stopped, and the man exhaled hard, and pulled himself off of her.

“There,” he said with a villainous grin, “was that so hard?” She opened her mouth to scream, but he held the knife to her throat. “Snitch on me,” he threatened, “and I make you ashes.” She nodded, and he zipped up, and walked away. “See you later.”

She broke down into furious, near endless tears as he vanished. She scrambled to cover herself up, leaving the dashed groceries and running back to her own home. She dashed through the streets, getting strange looks from bypassers. She ran and ran, fearful and hateful tears streaming down her face.

She arrived at her apartment building, careful to keep her clothes about her as she ran up the stairs. She slammed the door behind her, and let the clothes fall. She collapsed on her bed, a pained, whimpering mess. This was what she would have to live with. Not just the experience, but the scars that it left, and the fruits of his cruelty.


	7. History- Her Only Living Son

Eombra let the child grow inside of her. For nine months, she feared who he would be. His father had not been the kindest of men, and she worried he would inherit this disposition. When it came time to birth the child, she swore never to tell him the truth about his conception. For his sake, and hers.

For another two years, she kept him secret. She raised him on her own, prioritizing his needs over her own. On his third, she decided she would let him out into the world. She had been covertly buying supplies for the both of them, paying for it with money she regularly thieved from her parents, who were also unaware of her child until that time.

Another four years, and he had begun school, and she had become self-sustaining. Her son, however, had become somewhat of a pariah. She presently sat before the principal of the school she had brought him to, discussing his recent string of misbehaviours.

“So, Miss Withers, yes?” the principal asked.

“Yes,” she said, shaking his hand, and sitting down in the chair before his desk.

“So, has your son told you about what he’s been doing?” the principal asked.

“He says he was only defending himself,” she parroted, “the other kids were teasing him.”

“And do you know why they were teasing him?” he asked.

“No,” she answered truthfully, “he didn’t tell me.”

“Because he threatened them first,” the principal elaborated, “he threatened each of the kids in different ways, and they didn’t think he would keep to his word, but, as it turns out, he did. Karak said he burned her shoes, Shane said he tore up all of his schoolwork, and Antum said he pulled his chair out from under him. Antum and Karak, by the way, have been  _ hospitalized _ because of your son’s misbehaviour. What do you have to say about this, Eombra?”

She sat for a second to think. “I don’t know. I’m sure there’s more to it than that. Kids don’t always tell the truth, you should know this, more than anyone else.”

The principal adjusted himself in his chair. “Eombra, does he have any other parents? A father, maybe that could’ve learned this from?”

Even the mention of his father made her stomach plummet. “No,” she answered, choking up, “just me.”

“Well,” the principal said, “until he can control himself, we’ve decided to suspend him from school. He’s waiting for you in class.”

Eombra nodded, and stood up to leave. “Goodbye, sir.”

“Good day, Miss Withers,” he said as she left. She shut the door, and took a deep breath. She walked through the halls, and retrieved her son, who was sitting quietly in the back of the room.

“Come on, Bracer,” she said, calling him by his nickname. She took him by the hand, and led him away, out to the parking lot and into her car.

She turned the key, and pulled out of the parking lot. Bracer sat sulking in his seat, curled up into a ball.

“Put your seatbelt on, honey,” she instructed him.

He grumbled, and turned away.

“Bracer,” she repeated, more seriously, “put on your seatbelt.”

He reached for the belt, and held it in his hand as he sat.

“Not like that,” she said, “put it in the thingy.” He grumbled again, and put it in properly. “Thank you.”

There was a long silence, before she asked, “So, Bracer, why did you threaten those kids?”

“They were teasing me,” he said.

“What were they teasing you about, then?” she pressed.

“About my dad,” he said. Again, the mention of his father sent spikes through her brain.

“Wh- what about him?” she asked.

“They said I was lying,” he answered, “I told them he was a Guardian, and they didn’t believe me!”

She had told him some covert half-truths about his father, once upon a time, for the purpose of getting him to stop asking.

“Mom,” he asked, “dad was a Guardian, right?”

“Yes,” she said, holding back tears.

“And he’s going to come back some day, right?”

She didn’t want to answer either way. So, she decided to tell him another, new half-truth. “Bracer, your dad didn’t love me,” she said, “when I told him I was going to have a baby, he left me. He didn’t want to stay with either of us.”

Bracer frowned. “Mom,” he said, “do you think I could be a Guardian?”

“I hope,” she said, “you could do a lot better than some of the jokers out there.” There was another moment of silence, and Eombra said to her son, “Bracer, I just want to let you know that, whatever choices you make, and whatever you do with your life, I love you. Remember that.”

“Okay, mom,” he said, cheered up a little.

She said this, but, secretly, she hoped that he would never become a Guardian. She didn’t want him to take after his father, in any way. Ombracion Withers was never going to be a villain.


	8. Ian- Put It Back

“BRING HIM BACK!” I demanded, banging my fist on the stone floor, “BRING HIM BACK!” What the hell had he done? This couldn't be happening! 

“I- I-” Alpha stuttered, “I can't. Xander… Xander went through. We… we can't open the portal again. He was the last Guardian of-”

I rose to my full height, breathing heavily, and seething with rage. “Bring. Him. Back. Now.” I outstretched my hand, and felt power flowing through my body. A tear in the world formed in the direction of my hand, cracking the universe apart, leaving shadowy gashes in space. “Bring him back, or I destroy everyone and everything here.” I could feel Alpha, and I knew I could rip their body to shreds where they stood, and they knew it, too.

“Child, please,” they pleaded.

“Don't call me  _ child _ ,” I spat, angry tears streaming down my face, “I've been through more shit than anyone else in this room, and I'm ready to spread the love.”

“Ian, calm down!” Drannis said, approaching me cautiously. I forced my powers on her, now.

“I will calm down when I'm good and FUCKING READY!” I shouted, “Don't give me that bullshit!” My anger overtook me, and I collapsed to my knees, and crawled to her. “I'm so sorry,” I apologized, breaking down into mourning sobs. “I'm so sorry…”

She helped me to my feet. “It's okay,” she assured me.

“No, no it's not,” I said, stilling weeping.

“I'm with him,” Cornelius said, and stood up. “What's going to happen now that Xander's… that he’s…”

“Gone,” a girl in gold finished for him. “Well, not much.”

We all looked at her with bewilderment. “What do you mean?” Drannis asked.

“Well, if the last Stone of Sound had truly been destroyed,” she said, “we wouldn't be able to be talking to each other right now. Which means, by process of elimination, there has to be at least one Stone left.”

Cornelius stepped down from his seat as well. “Well, where the hell’s it hiding, then?” he asked.

“I… do not know,” Alpha admitted, “all I can think of is… it is home. I suppose this will be your quest, then. Find their way home, and save them for us.”

  
  
  


I took Corn, Drannis and Jane back with me to the ship we had arrived in, and took the helm. “So, anyone got any idea what the hell Alpha was talking about?” I asked.

“I might.” I looked back, and saw the girl in gold from before standing at the ramp, which I had forgotten to close.

“Great! Who are you?” I asked.

“Aubrey Hamilton,” she said, sticking out her hand, “age nineteen, Calgary Alberta, lactose intolerant.”

“Uh, okay,” I said, tentatively taking her hand. She gripped it firmly, and shook faster and harder than I was expecting.

“I’m on board now,” she asserted herself.

“Um, alright,” I agreed. “Drannis, you’re smarter than me, can we get some priorities set up?”

“Well, first we need to take Jane home,” she said, comforting the worried Guardian of Light, “we should take a break to plan and get prepared, find someone to look after her, and then-”

“Go off to search the entire universe for a little glowy rock,” I finished, “my favourite.” I powered up the ship, closed the door, and shot out through the membrane of the Core. Quickly, I switched on the destiny-whatever that did the space thing, and space went weird and glowy. Isn’t it great how I don’t understand any of this? Yeah.

“Okay, then,” I said, standing back and taking a seat, “all we have to do is wait for… uhh… time. I forgot how fast I programmed this thing to go.”

“You didn’t know how fast you made it go, you mean,” Aubrey corrected, “you just went ‘ship go fast’ in your head and left it at that.”

“Uh, okay,” I said, “that’s- how do you know that?”

“She’s a Guardian of Truth,” Drannis answered, “she’s good at picking out lies, fibs, even hyperbole. They’re very literal.”

“I’m not literal,” she said, “I’m physical. If I was literal, I’d be in a book.”

“Okay, so, Truth is an element now?” I asked, “Someone  _ really _ needs to tell me what’s an element and what isn’t because I’m, like, ninety percent sure half these elements aren’t real things.”

“They’re real things,” Aubrey said, “if they weren’t real things they wouldn’t be elements.”

“I- eh, fuck it, nevermind,” I said, “you, exposition girl, do you know how soon we’re going to get there?”

“I’m not exposition girl,” she said, “again, that’s a literary construct.”

I sat down between the two of them, and felt an odd sense of familiarity. 

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Cornelius asked.

“Probably not,” Aubrey dismissed, 

“Uh,” I groaned, “so... do you know when we’ll get there?”

“Five hours,” she said, “better have a way to piss into space or else we’re all fucked to shit.”

  
  
  


We didn’t have a way to piss in space. We mostly just kept it in our magic space suits, though there may or may not have been a few… uh, hiccups along the way. Not naming names, but it was mostly me I mean Jane.

“Come on, come on, come on! Hurry up!” I pleaded with the ship, ready to burst, and prepared for my armour to break and for the floodgates to shatter.

“One minute,” Aubrey said, herself noticeably unaffected by any of this, “did you just take in an large excess of water before you came here?”

“I drink when I’m anxious!” I said, “Which is all the time!” The ship dropped out of discount-warp, and descended through the atmosphere. We landed in the middle of the cul-de-sac, and I rushed out of the ship to Solomon’s house.

“Jane! Do you have a key?!” I demanded. “Oh, fuck it!” I took out my guardstaff, and inserted it into the lock on his front door. I bust inside, and scrambled to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I took a quick few seconds to empty the tank, washed up, and came back out. Then, I had another panic attack, and collapsed onto the couch.

“He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone,” I chanted, laying on my side on the couch, “he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone.”

Drannis came to my side. “Hey, it’s gonna be alright,” she said, “that’s what we’re trying to do here, yeah? That’s the point of all this. We find the Stone or whatever, and we bring them back.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?” I sobbed, “He’s just going to be fucking stuck there no matter what, and I- I’ll never get to see him again! Oh, fuck…”

“Hey, moron!” Cornelius said, slapping my face with the palm of his hand.

“OW!” I cried, sitting upright, “What the hell was that for?!”

“We’re not losing them,” he said, “we’re going to find a way to get them back, or die trying!”

“That’s easy for you to say,” I argued, “you’re mortal!”

He took me by the collar, and shoved his face up against mine. “Listen to me you little purple bastard, we are finding the fucking rock, shoving it in someone’s head, and getting our fucking boyfriends. Are we clear?”

“Okay, okay,” I said, still sobbing intensely, “so, what do we do?”

“We figure out where Solomon’s keeping it,” Aubrey said, “what else?”


	9. Ajay- Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying

“Xander, you  _ idiot!” _ I said, taking him by the shoulders, “What the hell are you doing here?!”

He held his guardstaff up between us. “I’m doing my job.” He pushed me back into the wall, and I stepped in someone’s blood.

“Oh, that’s nasty,” Alex remarked, “I’m guessing that’s-”

“Nikolas,” Solomon answered, bending down to touch the blood puddle, “it has a suspiciously high concentration of illicit substances. They must’ve taken the body already, or…” He pointed out the doorway, which had been slashed to bits by something massive. “It’s been eaten.” Flocks of Halfguard were swarming through the air, clumping together and separating like starling birds, clustering about the bases of pillars that looked almost celestial in diameter, that went up forever to an invisible ceiling.

“Great,” I said, “now we have to deal with more of those fucks. Which of us can do the biggest gun?”

“Me first,” Lena said, whipping up a giant cannon from her arm, and crashing the rest of the front of the hideout with at as she exited. “Bada bing, cucksluts,” she said. The air cracked with the sound of a titanic projectile being shot from the end of her arm. A giant pink missile shot through the air, and landed in a cloud of Halfguard, and exploded into a violent, violet cloud. She turned to face us. “Any more takers?”

“No, no, no!” Solomon said, pushing past her, “You have alerted them of our presence! What the hell have you done?!”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” she said, shrinking her arm back down.

“Maybe we should take our swords and things out?” I said, “Just a suggestion!”

“No,” Alex said, stepping in front of me, “they're not… they aren't paying attention to us.” She was right. The flocks of Halfguard simply avoided their dead, and continued to swarm like nothing had happened.

“That's weird,” I remarked, “usually those things try and tear us limb from limb if we take a step in the wrong direction. What gives?”

“AGH!” Solomon cried out. He collapsed to the floor, and writhed on the ground. I knelt down to him.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“So… much… information!” he said, sounding strangled, “This new universe… all of its new qualities, all of its new inhabitants… new elements! Oh, this is a headache for the ages!”

“What can we do?” Alex asked, kneeling down to help as well.

“I need space!” he articulated, “Just get back! This is going to- agh! This is going to pass! I just need a mo- a mome… a moment…” He curled up into a ball, and suddenly evaporated, leaving behind his Stone.

“Ah, crap,” I said, picking the Stone up, “just fantastic. Our teacher's a fucking rock.”

“What do we do now?” Alex asked.

“Do I look like the kind of person who would no that?” I returned.

“I can hope,” she said defensively. I stuffed Solomon's brain rock into my pocket, and stood up.

“Well,” I said, “now all we have to do is search an entire universe for a tyrannical overlord, then kill him! Should be easy enough.”

“Keep up, shitheads,” Xander said, passing us all by. Gordon flew up, and landed in front of him, shaking his head.

“He's right,” Alex said, “we don't want to try and piss off those Halfguard any further.”

“You got any better ideas?” Xander said with a scowl you could hear.

“Find shelter,” she offered, “if we are gonna die here, might as well make it last.”

“And where would shelter be?” Xander asked, turning to confront her.

“Uh, um, well-” she stammered.

“You have no idea where to go, do you?” Xander pressed.

“Maybe,” she said, avoiding his eyes, “but your idea is going to get us killed before we even get to the fist boss!”

“The what?” he asked.

“Pop culture reference,” I said, rubbing my forehead, “you're from space, you wouldn't get it.”

Gordon tapped me on the shoulder, and signed something. “Uh, sorry,” I said, “I'm not particularly fluent in… hands.” He rolled his eyes.

“Guys?” Alex said, “Where did Lena go?”

“Oh, shit,” I swore.

Off in the distance, the neon pink idiot was screaming loudly, and rushing towards the pillar of Halfguard, firing off sword blades from an automatic gun. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Someone stop her!” Alex said.

“Why can't you do it?!” I asked.

“You have wings! I don't! Do something!” she demanded.

“Gordon! Do something!” I shouted.

“You're all idiots,” Xander said, and Gordon seemed to echo his sentiment.

“Race you there?” I said, donning my armour and spreading my wings.

He smirked, and shot off into the sky with impossible speed. 

“No fair!” I joked, and took to the sky as fast as I could. I soared over the grey surface, quickly gaining speed to come up to Gordon. “Whaddup, my man?” I said. He dove down, swooping towards Lena. She heard his descent, and fired a blade up at him. He swerved to avoid it, and I went in to get her. She fired at me this time, damn near clipping my wings. “Hey, watch the fucking merchandise! I don't know if I can fix these things.”

“Eat shit, red!” she shouted, without even looking back at me. Then, without her notice, Gordon came in and collided with her from the side, the pair of them crashing into the ground.

“Thanks!” I said to him. He stuck his hand up, and flipped me off. Yup, he was back. I landed, and found that she had been knocked unconscious, thank fuck.

Alex and Xander came up behind us, jogging briskly. “What's everyone's statuses?” Alex asked.

“Statuses?” I questioned, “Who the hell says statuses?”

“She does, apparently,” Xander said hopelessly.

Gordon got to his feet, and signed something to Alex. “Okay,” she said, “Lena's out for the count, yeah?” He nodded. “Alright, now, let's find ourselves a cave, and try our best not to piss off the swarm of undead gargoyle things. Can we agree on that?”

“Sounds good enough,” I said, “so… where's a cave?”

Gordon pointed off into the distance, towards a pillar that seemed unoccupied by the Halfguard. At its base, I could make out what looked like a large, dark hole, that appeared to be a cave entrance.

“Let's do this, then,” Alex encouraged, slinging Lena over her shoulder. 

I spread my wings. “Anyone need a lift?”

“Good idea,” Alex said, “you and Gordon can carry Lena and Xander, I'll be right behind you guys. Ajay, you take Lena, and, because you two worked so well together before, Gordon, you take Xander.”

At the same time, Xander and I groaned and complained, “Do I have to?” Gordon signed something as well, which I'm sure conveyed the same sentiment.

“Yes,” Alex said, passing Lena over to me, “now get to that cave. Don't wait up for me, alright?”

Gordon signed again, and Alex informed him, “Yes, I promise I'll be fine. Now you four… uh, five? Does Solomon count as a fifth right now?”

“Nobody knows,” I said, taking Lena by the legs and lifting her up into the sky.

“Well, you guys get to shelter,” she finished, “I'll be taking the scenic route, I guess.”

“Alright,” I said unsurely, “see you then, man.”

“Later, dudes.” Gordon picked up Xander, and we began our flight over to the pillar. I looked back at Alex, and she gave me a thumbs-up. This was totally going to go well, for sure.


	10. Ian- Large Sibling is Viewing You

“Okay, uh, where would things be?” I asked, searching under Solomon’s couch for anything spacey, “I’m open to suggestions.”

“His office,” Aubrey brought up, “or bedroom, which is probably also his office.”

“I dunno, the couch seems promising,” Drannis joked.

“No it doesn’t,” Aubrey denied.

“You’re a real buzzkill aren’t you?” Drannis said.

“Thanks,” she said, completely deadpan. I got up from searching under the couch, and wandered to the back of the house, and was faced with a pair of doors. Unlike most of the houses, Solomon’s house had been constructed with two parallel bedrooms, as opposed to one on top of the other.

I came into the one on the left, and, going off the bright lights, colours, numerous paintings and stuffed toys, was not Solomon’s. “Uh, okay,” I said, “this… is probably the wrong room. Jane, maybe take a nap or something, I’m going to go rifle through your dad’s shit.” 

Drannis took Jane to the room, and I tried Solomon’s doorknob. Unsurprisingly, it was locked. I slipped my guardstaff into it, and it easily fit into the slot. I turned it, and entered his secret space-thing-hiding-room. The lights had been left on, and I had found myself in a creepy-ass big-brother looking hub of screens, with a bed on one end of the room, with a keyboard with a special extension cord connecting it to a desktop computer hub beneath the screens.

“Well,” I said, “this is… creepy as shit.” I closed the door, and slipped into the bed, putting the keyboard on my lap. The central screen of the monitor wall displayed a more or less standard Windows desktop, but the rest displayed camera views of the cul-de-sac. Some of them looked like aerial views, that didn’t seem to be physically possible.

“How the hell does this guy get these shots?” I asked, “does he have, like, invisible cranes or some shit?”

“No,” Aubrey said from the other side of the door, “he’s got invisible drones.”

“Great,” I said to her, “why are you listening in on me, and how do you know that?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, “and… I don’t know.”

“Okay,” I said, “can you… uh… leave me alone?”

“I can.” There was no sound of movement.

“Please leave me alone,” I requested.

“Sure, got it,” she said, and walked back to the living room. I turned my focus back to the screens, and surveyed the cul-de-sac. A few others were walking about the street, but it was generally quiet. “So… this is what it feels like to be a lunch monitor.” I got out of the bed, and stepped back out into the living room. I realized that, on the table before the couch, the Destiny Engine was just kinda… sitting there.

“Does anyone else find it weird that this fucking god machine is just kind of sitting there? In the middle of the living room?” I pointed out.

“Little bit,” Cornelius said, poking around in the kitchen, “find anything?”

“Not yet,” I said, “maybe I’ll check with Jane, he might’ve hidden it with her.”

I walked back to Jane’s room, where Drannis had her tucked into bed, even though she was very clearly distressed by the absence of her guardian (ha). “Hey,” Drannis said quietly, trying not to unsettle Jane, “did you find anything?”

“That's what I came here for,” I answered, carefully maneuvering through the maze of art materials and plush toys strewn about the floor, “Jane, do you know where Solomon would've kept anything… weird and spacey?”

“No,” she answered, cowering under the blankets, “he doesn't really keep much stuff here. Just the Engine.”

“Where would he usually-” I began, but something clicked in my head. “The USB! He's got a USB stick at- at school. Ah, shit.”

“What's so bad about school?” Drannis asked.

“Unless he was attentive enough to grab it before the fucking apocalypse happened,” I said, “then it's still on the old Earth. Oh, crap on a cracker.” I sat down on the bed and collapsed next to Jane. “Mind if I die here? I feel like being dead here.”

Jane stared at me, confused and concerned. “Little bit.”

“Ian, what's so terrible about-” Drannis began, but then realized, “Oh, right. Giant monsters.”

“Yup,” I said, my heart sinking down through the mattress. “Oh, this is a fucking crapshoot.”

“Please get off my bed,” Jane requested.

“Yeah sure,” I said, getting up, and walking to the door, “I'll just go have a depressive episode on the couch. Later.”

Drannis got up and met me. “Listen,” she said, “you can't keep doing this. You want to see Ajay again, don't you? Then you need to quit acting like he's already in the gallows, and do something about it. Get in that ship, and get the fuck out of here, and find that fucking rock, and do something with it. You hear me?”

“Okay,” I said, my voice threatening to shatter in my throat, “are you and Jane going to be okay here? Or should I get someone else?”

“I’m coming with you,” she said, “you're going to need someone with powers that aren't limited to seeing ghosts, grammar checking, or indefinite respawns. It's like Pacific Rim out there.”

“How do you know Pacific Rim?” I asked.

“I do things,” she said defensively, “which, unlike you, aren't exclusively shoving things up my ass.”

“Don't say that around the baby,” I said, shepherding her out of the room, “and, also, you gave me an ass-shoving thing, get out of your glass house before you start tossing stones.”

“It was listed as a massager! I don't keep up with what Earthians use for what!” she argued.

I heard footsteps behind us. I turned, and Jane was standing in the short hallway. “I'm coming, too.”

“Jane,” Drannis said, “Solomon said you should stay home. We’ll find someone to-”

“Solomon said he didn't want her on the battlefield,” Aubrey corrected her, standing beside Cornelius and sipping a glass of milk, “we’re not going to a battlefield. We're just going to Earth. Besides, it's farther out than Pluto, now. We're going to need more than just a flashlight.”

“She's right,” Corn said, himself taking a sip of something, “besides, I heard you saying you wanted better elements. There's another one standing right there.”

“But- she’s-!” Drannis stuttered, “Fine. But one of us has to keep an eye on her at all times!”

“That's kind of the point,” Corn said.

“Alright,” I said, “so… spaceship?”

“Spaceship,” Drannis begrudgingly agreed.

“Spaceship!” I declared, and swung around to the door, “Let’s get this shit done!”

“I'm driving,” Aubrey asserted, “none of this 'ship go fast’ bullshit, this time.”

“That is fair,” I agreed, “I will be spending my time with existential crises and nervous breakdowns along the way.”

Corn came up to me, and gripped my arm. “Listen to me,” he said, “if your having a breakdown means that Xander stays stuck, then I promise you, I will kill you so many times that you won't want to keep coming back from it. Got it?”

“Uh, okay,” I said, my voice fluttering in fear, “you are more frightening than I realized, I am going to walk away now.” I trotted away, and over to Drannis. “Help me!”

She shoved me towards the door. “Let's go. Come on, we've got a thing to find.”

  
  
  


A half hour later, we had arrived at the old Earth, and blinked back into reality. I looked down at it, shrouded in darkness, damn near invisible, thousands upon thousands of kilometers from where it had always been, ravaged by monsters the size of mountains.

“Welcome back home, I guess,” I said to myself.

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Aubrey questioned me.

“Myself,” I answered.

“Why are you welcoming yourself back home?” she pestered me, “Besides your home is-”

“Shush! I'm waxing poetic!” I shot back.

“That's not what it-”

“I'm a big idiot, okay!” I inserted. To this, she had no argument. Honestly, some people.


	11. History- We Don't Need Your Help

Another six years passed. Bracer was now twelve years old, and had graduated into middle school, even with him switching schools every year or so. He and his mother had moved into an apartment close to the school, which was both a blessing and a curse. Bracer's classmates often defaced the building, marking it with sayings like “half-guardian” and other slurs targeted at his heritage and his mother. In turn, he tormented them with various destructions of their property. Homework seemed to burn up at his very presence, and grades dropped as a result of his untraceable tampering.

Eventually, the school caught onto his chaotic tendencies, and he was forced out again. His mother took to teaching him, and did her best to wring the cruelty out of him. But, when she slept, he did his best mischief, leaving to mark the school in ongoing retaliation. Once again, the school caught onto this.

As she was conducting a lesson on algebra with her son, Eombra heard a knock on the door.

“One second, sweetie,” she told her son, as she went to the door. She opened it slightly, and the chain lock stuck it where it was. “Hello?”

“Miss Withers?” a woman from behind the door asked, “I'm Shana, Shana Black. I'm from Social Services. I've come to talk to you about your son.”

Eombra shut the door on her. She stepped back towards her son, but the social worker knocked again. She opened the door again, and said, “I don't want you here.” She slammed it on her this time, but Shana kept knocking. She opened it one last time.

“Please,” Shana said, “just give me a few minutes.”

“Hold on Bracer,” Eombra told her son, and slipped out the door into the quiet hallway, and closed it behind her. “What do you want?”

“The school board has informed me that your son has been causing mayhem at their middle schools,” Shana explained, “teachers come in in the mornings and find documents destroyed, and… symbols, carved or painted onto the walls. Are you aware of this?”

Eombra was taken aback. Her best efforts had not been enough to bring her son around to pacifism. “No,” she said honestly, “I spend half of my day teaching him, and I have to work for the rest.”

“Ma'am,” Shana said, “have you tried to file for child support before? It could be-”

“I don't need your help,” she said, “we're doing fine on our own.”

“I can tell you're not,” Shana refuted, “you look like you live in squalor here. If you would just-”

“I don't need your help!” Eombra repeated forcefully, pushing Shana back into a wall. Reflexively, Shana showed her true colours, as black Guardian armour covered her body.

Eombra gasped. “You're one of them,” she said, almost a whisper.

“Miss Withers, please!” Shana tried, “Your son needs help! We can-”

“No! I don't need you!” Eombra said, “You Guardians always make things worse!”

“Eombra, please!” Shana insisted, but Eombra slammed the door on her, and breathed a sigh of relief as they were separated by it.

“Who was that, mom?” Bracer asked attentively.

“No one,” she lied, “now, let's get back to math.” Bracer groaned, but Eombra smiled slightly. It brought her joy to take care of her son, and to teach him. It didn't matter how they lived. What was important was that they were together.


	12. History- Rebel Without A Cause

Another four years passed. Social workers continued to pester Eombra about her living conditions, but she paid them no mind. She could do this by herself. Bracer had grown into a young man, slim but well-shaped. Every day, Eombra thought, he looked more and more like his father. So much so that, once she had taught him all she could, she decided to take longer hours at her job, just so she didn't have to be reminded of what happened almost seventeen years ago, now.

In the meantime, Bracer had found it in him to make a few friends, enough, in fact, that he had pieced together a band. With the little money his mother had in excess, Bracer saved up enough for a guitar, which he had emblazoned with his initials, styled like black flames. He served as guitar, of course, as well as a backup singer. He had grown exceptionally close to a girl named Noira, the lead singer. They and two others formed what Bracer had dubbed “The Banished Knights”.

Eombra didn't often hear the songs they played, but what she heard had her concerned, but no more than she had been before. The lyrics were aggressive and vicious, sung with vitriolic righteousness and backed with sharp guitar and weighty drums and bass. Her multiple jobs didn't offer her much time to seek out her son's music, but she was happy that he could channel his emotions into something constructive.

Eombra, in turn, now relegated her interactions with her son to making a spartan breakfast and meeting him when the both came back from work.

Eombra was now working in a relatively high-class restaurant as cleaning staff. The restaurant was close to closing, and she was hard at work clearing recently vacated tables of their dirtied plates and the food that stuck to them. She hoisted an immense pile of dishes onto a tray, and began to carry it back to the kitchen.

“Hey,” said a smooth male voice. She turned minimally to face him, and saw a dark-skinned patron smiling at her. “Need any help with that?”

“I don't think I'm allowed to let you help,” she said, and continued to bring the plates back.

He stepped in front of her. “I insist.” He took the pile from her hands, and carried it to the back with her. “Don't suppose I'm allowed in the kitchen?” he said, flashing a smile.

“No,” she said simply, and took the pile back, pushing the door open with her foot. She dumped it on the counter, brushed her hands off, and went back out for more. The man was still standing there, waiting for her.

“Hey, uh,” he said, “I was wondering if-”

“Go away,” she said, striding off to get more plates.

“Alright, then,” he said, “maybe another time?”

“No,” she denied him, “thanks for the help, but I'm fine on my own.”

“Okay,” he said, “but can I at least get your name?”

“Eombra,” she answered.

The name struck a chord with him. “Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a kid, would you? Skinny guy, name’s Bracer, I think? In a band?”

“Why?” she asked, struggling with the dishes.

“My kid knows a guy by that description,” the man said, “they're in a band together. Brings you up, every now and then.”

“How so?” she asked, putting the plates down in favour of the conversation.

“If you don't mind my saying so,” he said, “I think he might be into you, just a little. I can understand why.”

Eombra smiled a little at the compliment. “Thanks, I think.”

“See you around, then?” he proposed.

“Maybe,” she said, warming up to him, just slightly.

“Cool,” he said, “see you later.” He walked out the front door, and Eombra’s gaze followed him as he left. Then, at the door, she spotted an unfortunately familiar face. 

The man who attacked her seventeen years ago was standing at the door, speaking with a member of the staff about seating. Eombra froze. She didn't know whether to kill him there or run away. He looked in her direction, and their eyes met. His burning stare frightened her to her core, but he paid her no attention, and simply continued on his way, striding into the dining area.

He came closer and closer to her, and she grabbed a fork from the pile of plates. He walked towards her, and she struck out, screaming and piercing his cheek with the sharpened utensil. 

“BASTARD!” she cried, tackling him to the floor, stabbing repeatedly at his face and chest. Anger overcame her, she poised the fork to deal a killing blow to the throat, but he took out his guardstaff and whipped her back with the weapon he had threatened her with so long ago.

She stumbled back off him, grabbing a glass of water and swiftly dousing the flames with it. They stood apart, staring accusingly at the other. Soon, sirens sounded. Police had arrived, and stormed the building. 

“Hands in the air!” one shouted, aiming a gun at them, alternating the target. She bolted, running from the scene, but was clipped by a bullet through her calf. She collapsed to the floor, bleeding, in pain.

“Bracer,” she whispered, and fell unconscious.


	13. Ajay- This Is Not A Particularly Enviable Situation We Have Here

We made our way to the small dugout, Solomon still a rock, and Lena still unconscious. It was the right size to hide in, but I doubted it could sustain us for long as it was. So, because we don't need oxygen or clean air, I lit my gladius, and it burned in the center of the meager shelter. With nothing else productive to do, I gazed out at the landscape, as Gordon went to fetch Alex.

“So,” I said, trying to scrape up a conversation, “what made you want to come?”

“I already told you,” Xander said condescendingly, “I'm here to kill my dad.”

“Right,” I said, “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

“I was the one who said it to begin with,” he returned.

“Uhh,” I failed, “oops. Listen, I'm just trying to get words happening. You got anything better to talk about?”

“I got a suggestion,” he said, “it's a little game called shut the hell up. You win by sewing your lips shut. I'll let you have this one.”

“Now I remember why I didn't want to let you into the school way back when,” I mentioned. 

“We were on opposing sides and I came to kill you?” he reasoned.

“More or less,” I said. There was a long quiet, where the fire of my blade crackling was the only noise. I decided to pick up another topic. “So, why did you leave Corn behind?”

“I don't know,” he answered, “I'm an asshole. You know this.”

“There's more to you than that,” I said, “so, orange juice, why did you leave him?”

He was quiet for a time. “Let's call it an act of mercy and be done with it. Why’d you leave purple kid behind?”

I chuckled. “Let's call it an act of mercy and be done with it.” Another quiet moment, and it hit me that I was never going to see him again. Whether we won this fight or not, I was going to have to live or die without him. “I feel like I should be angrier at you than I am,” I mused, “why ain't I?”

He shrugged. “Because you have better things to get pissed about? I'm not a fucking therapist.”

“Maybe pretend to be one,” I said, “I should have enough past trauma pent up. Get me to talk about it. I can remember mutilated bodies in extended detail, I'm sure you can make something outta that.”

“I'm not doing this,” he said, curling into a ball, and scrunching up against the cave wall.

“Well, let's have a role reversal,” I said, moving slightly closer to him, “what's on your mind?”

Then, all at once, a terrifying cosmic symphony poured forth from Xander, screaming and wailing like the souls of a million dead mourning their own demises. Violent, painful sounds streamed from him, threatening to shatter my eardrums and heart. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. “That's what,” he said.

I sat there, scared for my fucking life. “Uh, okay, got anything a little less eldritch horror to say?”

He sighed. A quiet melody played behind him. “ _ Some nights I stay up, cashing in my bad luck, some nights I call it a draw. Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle, some nights I wish they'd just fall off. But I still wake up, I still see those ghosts, and no, I'm still not sure what I stand for. What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don't know, anymore.” _

I picked up, increasing the tempo. Like any good edgelord, I knew this song like the back of my hand.  _ “Well, this is it boys, this is war! What are we fighting for? Why don't we break the rules already? I was never one to believe the hype, save that for the black and white. I try twice as hard and I'm half as liked, but here they come again to jack my style, and that's alright.” _

_ “I lay a martyr in my bed tonight,” _ he picked up,  _ “I keep myself from wondering just who I am, who I am who I am. Oh, who am I?” _

_ “Some nights I wish that this all would end, 'cause I could sure use some friends for a change, and some nights I'm scared I'll forget me again, some nights I know I won't win. But I still wake up, I still see those ghosts, and no, I’m still not sure what I stand for.”  _

_ “What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don’t know, anymore.” _ The song ended. Lena was moving slightly, and the fire continued to crackle. I saw Gordon and Alex on the horizon, him carrying her by the arms. 

“So,” I said, “feeling any better, now?” He glared at me.

“Tell anyone about this and I lop your head off,” he threatened. “But… just a little.”

I smiled. “Me too, man.” Then, in my pocket, something began to stir and rattle. “Oh, shit, Solomon’s hatching,” I realized, trying to shovel the Stone out of my pocket. But, unfortunately, I didn’t act fast enough, and Solomon ended up forming with his head compressed in my pocket, and the rest of his body awkwardly emerging out from it.

“Oh, that’s fucking… that’s not great,” I said, awkwardly shifting to try and let him out.

“You don’t fucking say,” he complained from inside my pocket. He pushed his hands against me at uncomfortable angles, and forced his head out of my pants (I really need to think my sentences through), his head awkwardly squished and warped like a cartoon character who had met a frying pan at great speed. It popped back out like the little markers on drink cups, and he groped his face, making sure it was all there. “Nose, eyes, mouth, good,” he remarked, touching the facial features as he said it.

“Sorry about that,” I said, only mildly terrified, “I probably could’ve thought that through better. Got any exposition for us, teach?”

“I suppose, if you must phrase it like that,” he said, rubbing his head to make fully sure it was actually there, “but, erm, where are Alex and Gordon?”

I pointed out to the distance, where the pair of them were fast approaching. “Oh,” he realized, “do you think they’re gonna be much longer?”

“Not too much,” I said, “depending on how many shits they’re willing to give. So, about the universe?”

“Well,” he began, “this is not just one universe, as it appears. As I understand, this is a realm comprised of multiple dimensions, all of which exist as a result of multiple possibilities coming together in such a way that Dark Omega successfully conquered the universe. This reality, it seems, has the combined material abundance of many, many infinities. It seems to operate on a base seven system, as opposed to a base thirty-one system like ours, with a composite function of 637 as opposed to 783, as Dark Omega has found some way to alter the base elemental and numerical composition of the universe.”

“Great,” I said, “now, what the fuck does that mean?”

He rolled his eyes. “This universe exists as a combination of seven elements, with the potential for 637 elemental Stones to exist.”

“Which means…?” I continued, perpetually confused about what the hell he was even saying.

“The universe is fucking weird!” he exclaimed, “Okay?! Do you understand that?!?! It’s very strange here!” He sighed, and slumped against the cave wall. “I’m sorry, it’s just… I’m… I’m never…”

Xander reached over, and put his hand on Solomon’s. “We got it.”

“Thank you,” Solomon replied, “it’s been a very rough day.”

“You don’t fuckin’ say,” I said. I gazed back outside the cave, and saw Gordon and Alex, having landed, talking and signing to each other, laughing and smiling on the way. I smiled with them, glad someone could feel good in this hellhole.

Then, on the horizon behind them, I saw something with a titanic wingspan approaching. “Guys,” I said, “I think we got company.” I grabbed up my guardstaff, and ran out towards Gordon and Alex, yelling, “GUYS! BEHIND YOU!”

Alex stopped laughing, and turned to see the approaching entity, and began to run as fast as her legs would propel her. Gordon picked up the pace, and lifted her up and towards the cave.

I ran towards it, armouring up and taking to the sky as well. I flew upwards toward it, recognizing the form of a maroon-armoured Guardian situated between the wings that could carry something from Earth to… the other Earth, on a single flap of themselves. I landed on the ground, hoping to get some strategy together that I couldn’t fathom if I tried, and, surprsingly, the figure landed as well, his almost endless wings compressing into his back.

“Alright, fuckface,” I said, readying my blade, “let’s see what you can-” He whipped out something like a guardstaff, and summoned a titanic blade that looked like it belonged in Final Fantasy. “Ah, fuck.”

He swing the blade around like it was nothing, and continued to saunter surely towards me. I wanted to run, but I held my ground. I was a fucking idiot.

“Oh, this is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt!” I chanted under my breath.

“Ajay! Wait!” Solomon called, running towards me, “You can’t fight him! He’s got-!”

The Guardian-looking dude roared, and ran towards me. “Here we fucking go,” I said, readying a swing. He raised his blade, and I hoped to fuck I would survive the hit, and parried with my tiny gladius, somehow able to keep the cartoonishly large blade above my head.

“AJAY!” Solomon repeated, “BE CAREFUL!”

“That’s not going to help, the sword’s already over my fucking head!” I returned. The attacker pause, and lessened his force.

“You?” he said. The voice caught me by surprise, but I took his surprise and used it against him, and struck him in the side. He grunted in pain, and stumbled a back a few steps.

I stepped backwards, removing my helmet. “Who the hell…?”

His helmet peeled back in turn. “What the hell?” Standing there like a mirror, was a man with my face, my voice, and my body.

“Ajay!” Solomon cried, “Temperature! His power is-” I turned around to look at him, but my moment of lapsed attention gave him a chance to attack, and I felt my body start to burn, but not with fire. My body felt like a sun, my nerves seizing up and feeding me the feeling of endless needles piercing every cell inside of me.

“AH!” I screamed, collapsing to the floor. As quick as the heat came, it was replaced with cold, and I felt like I was going to pass out. He raised his blade, and I prepared for a final blow. Would a suicide joke be crass here? Probably. The blade came down, and I closed my eyes, and steeled myself for the end. Well, shit.


	14. Ajay- There Was Supposed to be an Earth-Shattering Kaboom!

Before the blade could meet my skin, there was a scream and a yell, and a clash of metal. “Don’t you DARE TOUCH HIM!” Solomon shouted, furiously banging his weapon against my doppelganger’s, “Don’t you dare touch my students, EVER AGAIN!”

I opened my eyes, and looked up, seeing him holding his own with his spear against my clone, who looked deeply startled by him. The size of the blade didn’t matter; no matter what kind of blow he tried to levy at Solomon, Solomon refused it any power, and sent its force back at him tenfold.

Blow after blow, swipe after swipe, Solomon made quick work of the imposter, sending him to his back on the ground. “What makes you think you can wear his face? What makes you think you can take his life like it’s yours?!”

He sat there, incredulous and afraid. “Mr Solomon?” he said like it was a question.

“WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?!” Solomon insisted, “What villainy compels you to do this? What darkness do you serve?”

“Who the hell do you think?” he asked, “You’ve got enough shit rattling around in your head, you tell me!”

“If you were who I think you were,” Solomon said, “you would never serve him. So tell me, what are trying to gain from this? What knife has he put to your throat, villain?”

“I have nothing to save,” he answered, “and nothing to lose. But you don’t.” There was a woosh of air, and the giant wings emerged, sending the pair of us flying backwards into the stone pillar. I crashed into the rock formation with my helmet off, as if I needed any more fucking concussions at this point.

Once again, my everything went fuzzy, and I fell to the ground, and heard something break under my weight. Shit. I fell unconscious, and then… something happened. 

I dreamt beyond my control, appearing in a luxurious ballroom, where hundreds of near-identical people danced in grey-white uniforms of flamboyant dresses and suits. White marble pillars stretched to the sky, and candle lanterns lit the room I stumbled to my feet, trying my best to dodge the dancers’ as they did their best to trample me.

I shoved past them, up to a giant white staircase, with elaborately detailed railings that could only have been carved from the same, continuous rock. I looked up them, and, in a lavish and ornate throne, a man I had thought was dead. That seems like a recurring theme, here, dunnit?

“Magmortarus,” Chaos said, his magnificent fur cape that would’ve worked as a tarp for a limousine rippling as he stood up, crystal-orange drink in a crystal champagne glass in his hand, “sleeping on the job, are we?”

“Chaos?” I asked, deeply bewildered.

“Who the hell else would I be?” he asked back, “Well, that’s probably not the best comparison to be drawn, everyone here is technically me, but, only I’m the me me.”

I looked at him, head cocked and quizzical. “The fuck’s that mean?”

“Wait a moment,” he said, squinting at me, “you aren’t Magmortarus, are you?”

Suddenly, the dream collapsed, and Chaos and I were floating in a black, starless void. “Oho, the big man’s going to want to hear about this one,” he said, chuckling, and bringing out his rapier, “this is going to be one hell of a show!”

He threw the blade, and it pierced my forehead, and I was suddenly awake again. “GUH!” I exclaimed, as I took a large breath. I was back in the cave, everyone but Lena crouched over me. “Uh, hi?”

“Oh, thank the spirits,” Solomon said, “you’re alright.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” I said, shifting strenuously into an upright position, “but, unfortunately, I have some news. I think Chaos is alive in this universe.”

Solomon went white. Well, a little more than usual, anyways. He pretty clearly wasn’t sure how to react to this, so, in lieu of anything intelligent, he simply muttered, “Oh, bollocks.”

“Yeah, on that note,” I said, “why the hell was I trying to kill myself there? Like, on both sides of that.”

“Well, this universe is a composite of multiple universes, so, it stands to reason that in at least one, some events transpired that resulted in you falling under the control of Dark Omega,” he said, his brain visibly moving faster than his mouth could’ve feasibly moved, “and, in a similar vein, my brother managed to escape the destruction of at least one of them. I imagine he’s only himself because his mind would’ve created too much resistance to Dark Omega’s own over time, resulting in-”

“Solomon,” Xander interjected, “shut the hell up.”

“Apologies,” he said curtly, stepping back and sitting against the wall.

“So, did you have, like, another of those weird dreams of yours?” Alex asked.

“Yup,” I answered, “I should probably get that checked out eventually. Well, the fucking series of repeated concussions, anyways. That’s… that’s not healthy, I’m pretty sure.”

Alex smirked, and chuckled a little. “Listen, once this is all over, I’m going to find all the shit I can, and patch your fucking head up, alright, my dude?”

“Sounds great,” I said, “I can’t wait to have you picking around inside my head. That’s my faaavouriiite.”

She laughed again, a little less restrained this time. “Well, I’m a quick learner. You should be able to make it out of the operating room with most of your memories intact. Free will… mmm, maybe not.”

I laughed with her this time, and she helped me up to my proper height. “So… what do we do now?”

“Well,” Solomon said, “I suspect that-”

“We need somewhere else to hide,” Xander interrupted him, “discount Ajay’s going for reinforcements. Once again, we might need to find a different shelter.”

“Well… maybe we don’t need to,” Alex said, leaning back against the wall, herself, “maybe we can… hide this one!”

“That’s… absurd,” Xander denied, “what the hell are you talking about?”

“This is a cave, yeah? And caves are made of rock, right?” Alex mentioned, “Uh, this  _ is  _ rock, right?”

“It is base matter applied the qualities of rock, and should function the same, yes,” Solomon answered. We all looked at him like he had just declared cheese on the Roman Empire.

“Oookay,” Alex said, “so, if it’s rock or whatever, then I can just shape up a wall to keep the guys out! They’ll never know the difference!”

“Bitch, that’s fucking stupid,” Lena inserted herself.

“Do you have anything better?” Alex asked.

“I ain’t got nothin’ worse,” Lena returned.

“Okay, so, if we’re sealing off the cave,” I said, “then how are we going to  _ breathe?” _

“Our armour can sustain us,” Solomon mentioned, “it’s… quite possibly a terrible idea, but, I say that’s the best we have for now. Alex, whenever you’re ready. Everyone else, seal up.”

I slipped the armour over myself, and Alex stood up to seal the entrance. Everyone else activated theirs, and the entrance was covered with stones. Only the tiniest crack was left, projecting a tiny shaft of light into the cave.

“Maybe we should take a nap or something,” Alex suggested, curling up against the bit of wall she had sealed, “they might hear us, y’know, trying to bludgeon each other with blunt instruments and such.”

“Someone has to sleep on top of pink, though,” Xander said, “I don’t want her pissing on my face while I’m asleep.”

“Watch out, shithead,” Lena spat, and I heard a metallic slap, presumably Alex clapping her hand over Lena’s mouth. Her pink arm emerged, glowing in the dark, but I saw Alex wrench the arm around so that it shattered under the strain.

“Don’t pull anything, or I start ripping things,” Alex informed. Lena grumbled, but I heard her lay down on the cold stone floor. One by one, we tipped over onto the floor, curled up against the walls. I could see Solomon, however, his eye illuminated by the single, miniature shaft of light.

“Not gonna sleep?” I asked him.

“No,” he answered, “I think I’ve already had enough rest in the past hour or so. Hm. You go right ahead, though, no need to stay awake on my behalf.”

“Okay,” I said, and laid down on the floor, “tell us if anything murdery comes our way.”

He chuckled. “Hm. I’ll make sure. Good night, Ajay.”

“Night, Mr Solomon,” I said. I curled up, and warmed the stone around myself. A long night was in order. Maybe I would actually make it through the night, for once. If there was a night, anymore. I closed my eyes, and, slowly but surely, made my way into the dark of sleep. Time to dream about dicks. Perfect.


	15. History- Weighted Shoulders

Bracer was not sleeping well. He was plagued with nightmares, visions of his mother being violated and brutalized, and of Noira carving his skin. What was making him think these things? Suddenly, he was awoken by a phone ringing loudly. He blinked his eyes open, and noticed the room was darker than when he had gone to sleep, yet, somehow, he could see clearer than before.

He scrambled out of bed, and tossed his blankets aside, and moved to the phone. He answered the call. “Hello? Who is this?”

“This is the Overshade Police Department,” a gruff voice answered, “who am I speaking to?”

“Bracer Withers,” he answered, his heart racing, “what's wrong?”

“We have your mother in custody,” the officer said, “she attacked a man while at work. She told us to call you.”

“I'll be over right away,” he said, putting on clothes that would be appropriate for the outdoors, “thank you.” He sped out of the apartment building, and ran through the streets, desperately trying to locate the precinct. He ran and ran, eventually stumbling upon it. He barely remembered how he got there, but he did. 

He stepped into the building, and announced his arrival. “Where's my mom?” he asked.

“I'll take you to her,” said an officer sitting at his desk, evidently the same one who had called him. He led Bracer to the back of the precinct, where his mother was behind metal bars in a holding cell. Her leg was bandaged up, and she was hiding in the corner, whimpering, crying with rage.

“Why is she here?” Bracer asked.

“She attacked a Guardian,” the officer explained, “stabbed ‘im with a fork. No idea what the hell for.”

“He knows what he did,” Eombra hissed from the back of the cell, “HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID!” She rushed to the barred door, and shook the bars with her hands like the throat of a bird for slaughter. “HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID!”

“Mom,” Bracer said, putting his hand over hers, “what did he do?”

She looked at him, eyes wide, and realized she couldn’t tell him. Her lip quivered, and she broke down into tears, falling down against the bars. “I can’t… I can’t tell you… I can’t… I…”

He knelt down to her. “Mom, what did he do?”

She sobbed, refusing to tell him. She reached out, and stroked his cheek with her hand. “You look… you…” She tore herself away, and back against the far wall. “Don’t look. Don’t… don’t look…”

Bracer tore himself away from the bars, and stood up. “Where is this Guardian?”

The officer lead him away, and Eombra screamed at him to come back. “NO! NO! Don’t show him to him, DON’T SHOW HIM! DON’T SHOW HIM!” Bracer turned back to face her, but continued with the officer.

The officer lead him away, back into a medical ward. The officer opened the door into the ward, where a man was being treated by a nurse in white garb. She was fussing over the four-line scars on his face, doing her best to bandage them up.

“I’m fine!” he said, trying to bat her hands away. She continued to do this, but he grabbed her hand, and scowled at her. “I said, I’m  _ fine!” _ He tossed her hand back, and she glared at him, and walked away. He stroked a bleeding cut, and licked his finger clean of the blood.

“Ya got someone to see ya,” the officer said, introducing Bracer to the man. The man stood up to his full height, and faced Bracer down. A sudden bolt of lightning shot through Bracer’s head, and his vision swam. He stumbled back against the wall, and saw the man in shock as well.

“No,” he said, taking in the features of the man like he was a warped mirror.

“So,” the man said, “dumb bitch actually kept you, did she?”

“Who- who are you?” Bracer said, shaking.

“Nobody I can say around him,” the man said, wiping another stream of blood from his cheek.

Bracer took him by the collar, and forced him up against a wall. “WHO ARE YOU?!”

The man laughed. “What? Can’t recognize your dad when you see ‘im?”


	16. History- Look What You've Done

The policeman peeled Bracer off of the man. “Hey, hey! You can’t just go grabbin’ a Guardian like that!”

“Turnabout’s fair play,” Bracer argued, struggling against the officer’s hold.

The man wiped more blood from his cheek. “You’re a fighter, kid. Like your old man. Say, you got yourself the family gifts?”

He took out a guardstaff, and the flaming whip snapped into existence, and he lurched towards his bastard son. “So, do ya got it kid? Huh?! DO YA?!” He raised the whip, and Bracer broke free, rushing at the man.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” he roared, taking the man by the hands and forcing the guardstaff out of his grip. “What did you do to my mother?!” he insisted, his face millimeters away from the man’s.

There was a scuffle, and Bracer heard the policeman cock a gun. “Listen, kid, I don’t wanna-”

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Bracer roared again.

The man laughed. “I gave her the gift of a lifetime. A little baby bo-” Bracer choked the man now, and he was gasping for merciful air.

“I’LL SHOOT!” the policeman threatened, “DON’T THINK I WON’T!” Bracer let go, and shoved the man against the wall, and he slid down to the floor. 

“Don’t think you’re safe,” Bracer said, “we aren’t done with you.”

The man scraped up the guardstaff from the floor, and stumbled back to his feet. “Don’t worry,” he said with a smirk, “I’m not done with you, neither.” The whip snapped back out again, and he lashed out at Bracer. Instinctively, Bracer reached out, and grabbed the whip in the air, not noticing that black armour now coated his arm, and he snatched the guardstaff away, catching it in his own hand.

“Don’t try it,” Bracer said, confidently gripping the weapon.

“Try wh-” he began, but Bracer was quick on the trigger, and a black, smoking scythe emerged from the weapon, reaching around the man’s neck and cradling his vertebrae in the sharpened curve of the blade.

_ “Don’t try it,” _ Bracer repeated, pressing the blade back up against the warm flesh of his neck, and he could practically feel it draw blood. The scythe retracted, and Bracer stepped out of the room, slipping it into his pocket as he left. “I’m taking my mother,” he said to the officer, “and we’re going to leave.”

“But she’s still-” the officer tried, but Bracer stared him down.

“We’re going to leave,” he said, “and I’m taking my mother.” He strode to the back room, the officer following him out of for fear of his life. The officer opened the lock, and his mother was set free. She rushed out, and flung her hands around her son.

“I’m so sorry,” she wept, “I wish this never happened, I wish you didn’t have to-”

“It’s okay,” he dismissed, “everything’s going to be fine. Let’s go home.” Bracer and his mother strode out of the precinct, giving the officers disdainful looks on their way out.

“This won’t be the last you’ll hear of us,” Bracer threatened them. They left the building, and stepped onto the sidewalk and into the rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance as the downtrodden pair walked home.

Bracer’s cellphone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out, and saw Noira’s contact displayed on the screen. He answered. “I’m here,” he said into the black device, “what’s up?”

“Just calling to see if you were alright,” Noira responded, “you weren’t answering your home phone. Is everything good?”

“Yeah,” he said, “my mom was just… she got into a bit of trouble. I’ll call you back in a bit, okay?”

“Alright,” she said, “later, blackheart. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” he said, and closed the device.

For a long period of time, they walked together in silence, making their way back to their apartment. Cold, wet, and exhausted, they returned to their building, and trudged up to their apartment.

Bracer lead his mother to her room, and he helped her, afraid and tormented, into the bed.

“Thank you, baby,” she said to him, “I’m… I’m so sorry about this.”

“It’s fine,” he said, “I saw that guy. He was nuts. Best that you hit him first before he hit you.”

She held up the burned whip scar on her arm. “Guess that didn’t go as well as I had hoped.” They chuckled a little.

There was a quiet, and Bracer asked a question that had been weighing on his mind. “So… what… what did he do to you? What did… what made you want to do that?” His hand lingered on the guardstaff in his pocket.

“Hm,” she muttered, “I guess I owe you some explanations.”

“Only if you want to,” he said, his other hand moving to cover the scar on her arm.

“No,” she said, frowning, “you deserve it. Bracer… seventeen years ago…”

She told him a version of the story she wasn’t afraid to give. Maybe afraid, but not petrified. As she explained, Bracer vowed to himself that he would never let another Guardian take advantage of their power like that again. He was going to fix everything.


	17. Ian- Not Just For Him, Now

The ship descended quickly through the atmosphere, shooting down towards what I thought was Nova Scotia. It was a bit difficult to tell, because everything had been stepped on by giant fucking monsters that could nearly be seen from space, and we were millions of miles from the sun where no light could reach, so it could’ve also been Britain or New Zealand.

“So,” Drannis said, “is there something we should be looking for? Because all I’m seeing is… mush.”

“Yeah, Nova Scotia kinda looks like that,” I replied, “a lot. We should be looking for a vaguely school-shaped mass, probably with something standing on it.”

“Maybe we should go lower, then,” Drannis supposed, “like, get a flyby of it or something.”

“Sure,” I said, getting the ship to go lower, “search an entire province for a possibly-destroyed school building while trying to avoid Pacific Rim ripoffs. Piece of cake. Aubrey, do you know if this thing has, like, headlights or something?”

“Why are you asking me?” she said, “Why would I know if this thing had headlights?”

“I don't know,” I admitted, “I just thought you would know! You've got exposition powers, don't you?”

“No,” she replied, “I have Truth powers. Keep up.”

“Well, do you know if it has headlights?”

“Yeah, of course,” she answered, “why wouldn't it?”

“You just-! Why didn't you say that before?!”

She shrugged. “I dunno. I was just questioning your logic.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, “do you know where they are?”

“On the front,” she answered.

“Well how do I turn them  _ on, _ then?!”

“I dunno, I just know they're there.”

“GAH!” I exclaimed, “Drannis, help me out here. Do you know where the lights are?”

“Why would I know that? I've never flown one of these before!”

“DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE FUCKING LIGHTS ARE?!”

Cornelius raised his hand. “Yes, good, you do the thing!” I said, shoving him up towards the console, and I sat down beside Jane.

“Hey,” I said.

“Please sit farther away from me,” she said, and prodded my shoulder.

“Alright, personal space, I get it,” I said, slipping into the next seat over.

“No,” she said, “you're just very loud.”

“Yeah, okay, thanks,” I said, “didn't need to, uh, say that out loud, but, uh,okay, sure.”

“Shut up,” Cornelius commanded from the console.

“Yup, got it.”

The shop went lower, and we were skimming by the wrecks of buildings. I could hear Chaos’ monsters roaring and stomping in the distance, but I couldn't see any in that moment. It was weird, seeing buildings I had passed all my life, now destroyed and abandoned, lit now only by a stark white light projected down upon them.

“Is any of this looking familiar to any of you?” Cornelius asked.

“Not yet,” I said, stepping up and taking a closer look at the screen, “maybe a little, but nothing I can pick up on.”

“Wait, hold on,” Drannis realized, “I think I have a better way to get to Solomon's office!”

“Great! What is it?” I asked.

“Well, I can open a shadow portal,” she explained, “and once we get the thing, we can just teleport back here!”

“Well, I wish someone would've thought of this earlier,” Cornelius grunted, “then we wouldn't have had to use a fucking spaceship to get here!”

“Yeah, Ian, why didn't you think of this earlier?” Aubrey questioned me.

“Ah- why the hell would I think of that?!” I asked.

“You're the defacto leader,” she reasoned, “you should be the one who came up with the plan.”

“I- YOU CAME UP WITH THE PLAN!”

“No I didn't, that was you,” she corrected me.

“You came up with the first one!”

“Still no,” she refuted.

“Shut up!”

“Can we land the ship, first, please?” Jane asked.

“I'm working on it!” Cornelius snapped.

“Someone's in a bad mood,” I commented quietly.

“I'm in a bad mood,” he said, seething, “because my boyfriend is in another dimension, probably trapped there forever, and you jackasses won't fucking shut up! Now shut the hell your mouths, and I'm going to land this thing.”

After this, we didn’t argue with him, and he landed the ship on top of one of the few remaining intact buildings. 

“Do you mind if I just… take a look outside for a minute?” I asked.

“Sure,” Drannis replied, opening the portal for the others, “but don’t be too long. We still have a thing to do.”

“Thanks,” I replied, and commanded the door to lower. I stepped out onto the shadowy platform, and gazed out at the desolate, almost invisible plane, lit by the fires left by the Chaos Seeds and their destructive wake.

I sat down, legs crossed, and gave a few moments to think about this. What mess had I gotten myself into? Less than two years ago I was just some idiot struggling with school and having panic attacks in the bathroom. Then, a year and a half ago, shit went sideways and I learned I could never die the hard way. 

If I hadn’t taken that dumbass fall, all of this could’ve been avoided. Universes would be saved, Ajay would be fine, I might’ve even saved Gordon some suffering. Could I really be that selfish? Even chancing my own death sent us all to hell…

And the only one who benefited from it was me. I got the guy. Was it worth it? Maybe… maybe I should give back to the universe for once. I blinked hard, and a lonely tear fell from my eye. I stood back up, sighed, and went back into the ship.

“I’m good,” I said, cleaning up the wet trail the tear had left on my cheek, “pop it open.”

Drannis nodded, and summoned the portal. We both stepped through, and emerged on the other side. It was in Solomon’s office, alright, but…

“There’s, uh, I think there’s a wall missing,” Drannis noticed. The southern half of the room had been crushed by something, and his desk and computer were shattered and laying in the rubble.

“That’s going to make things difficult,” I remarked, “okay, uh, needle in a haystack…” I knelt down into the rubble, and sifted through the wreckage. I tossed a piece of wood aside, and it bounced all around the room despite any laws of physics, and it somehow smacked around in such a way that it uncovered a drawer that contained the USB stick Solomon had stowed away.

“Hell yeah,” I said, grinning as I recovered the drive.

“I call bullshit on that,” Aubrey declared, “that’s not physically possible.”

“It is if you believe,” I parried, “now all we need to do is find a computer to stick this fucker into, and it sure as hell ain’t pluggin’ into a school computer. Drannis, get us out of here.”

Drannis opened a portal, but, before any of us could go through it, something rapid and immense like millions of rapid footsteps shook the earth, and more rubble fell from the ceiling, and went through the portal, which collapsed in on itself.

“What was that?” Jane asked.

“Crap,” Drannis swore, “uh, maybe we should get somewhere safer?”

“Good idea,” I said, then made the exact wrong decision by going out through the broken wall of the office, and stumbled out to the parking lot. “Yup, wrong fucking way.”

Haunting above the office, a giant, centipede-like monster hung from the wall, with a stone shell that cracked to reveal magmatic innards. Its mandibles clicked as it salvated fire, and gazed hungrily at me with dead, insect eyes.

“Craaap,” I swore, and the beast descended. I stepped backwards into the office, and it burrowed its way into the ground.

“Uh,” Cornelius muttered, “did anyone else see that thing?”

“We all did, numbnuts,” Aubrey said, “now let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Good call!” I agreed, my voice cracking, “RUN!”

We bolted from the office, going deeper into the school for reasons we didn’t know, as Drannis tried to open a portal in the darkness.

“Jane! A little light?!” I requested, running through the halls completely blind.

“I’M TRYING!” she yelled, sparking some rays of light that only served to disorient us.

“THAT’S NOT HELPING!” Aubrey complained.

“THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!” Cornelius commented.

“CAN WE PLEASE JUST SURVIVE THIS, FIRST?!” I yelled. The centipede tore up through the floor behind us, shooting up through the roof through the other levels.

“WE’RE TRYING!” Drannis shouted. The centipede descended again, coming yet closer to my ass.

“YIKE!” I cried, hiking my legs to run faster from it. “PORTAL, PLEASE!” Then, the centipede changed course, and its head was now blocking our way. Jane managed a light, finally, and illuminated the beast’s hideous head. She screamed, and the light went out as fast as it came.

“WHAT DO WE DO?!” I shouted.

“WE KILL IT, DUMBASS!” Cornelius shouted. He roared, and came at it with his pithcfork, and stabbed at it, but it bit through the ethereal implement, and shattered it. “CRAP!”

“WHO HERE HAS LASERS?!” I asked frantically.

“I’M GOING IN!” Drannis exclaimed, battleaxe at the ready.

“Wait, no!” I cried, but the growling and chittering of the centipede drowned me out. She rushed towards it, and lodged her axe in its head. It hissed and squealed in pain, and it collapsed to the ground.

“There,” she said, “that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

Then, the body of the beast came tumbling down through the levels of the building, sending large chunks of rubble and structure down upon us all. 

“DRANNIS!” I cried, hand outstretched, as rubble and centipede both collapsed on her. She gave me a look of fear and surprise, eyes wide with terror, and was consumed by the flurry of stone and metal. “NO!”

The monster evaporated, and the rubble shifted on top of Drannis, revealing her from the torso up.

“Drannis, Drannis!” I said, scrambling over the wreckage to her side, “Are you okay? You're- you're gonna be okay! You're gonna be okay!”

She reached out, and clasped my hand in hers. “Listen to me,” she said, blood dribbling from her lip and forehead, “you need to find the ship, and get that drive into something. Find the last Stone. Save them, Ian. Save them for me.”

“You're gonna make it out of here!” I refused, “We're bringing you with us! We can-”

She slapped me on the cheek. “Get out of here, and save them you fucking idiot. I'll open a portal that'll get you out of here, and I need you to use it. Now get out of here, and save them!”

“Ian, we have to leave her!” Cornelius said, “If we don't, everyone's going to die!”

“I can't-” I began, but I felt the floor vanish beneath me, and I was catapulted through the air into the ruined streets of Bedford. I tumbled across broken glass and metal, and gazed back at an open shadow portal. “NO!” I screamed, my voice breaking, “NO!”

The others emerged from the portal, and it rippled and closed behind them. I tried to run to where it had been, but Aubrey and Cornelius caught me. “Let me go! I need to save her!” I said, struggling against them.

“The portal’s closed!” Aubrey said, “You couldn't go back even if we let you.”

“Please, I just need to-” I tried, but Cornelius specifically shoved me to the ground.

“Just stop it, okay? It's not happening,” he said resignedly.

“Guys,” Jane said, her voice fluttering, “is she…?” I stopped struggling. I turned, and gave her a look that said everything I didn't want to.

Jane gasped. “Are we-?”

“No,” I said, steeling myself for both of our benefits, “we’re going to get to the ship, and we’re going to find that fucking rock. Jane, get us a flashlight going.”

She flashed her palms into the sky, and I swung around like a searchlight in pursuit of the ship. A glint of metal caught my eye, and I stopped her as she uncovered it. “There,” I said, pointing, “all we need to do is get there, and we're good. Let's go.” We gathered ourselves, and began our trek. This wasn't just for Ajay now. This was for Drannis, and everyone else.


	18. Ian- Does Anyone Know What We're Supposed to be Doing Because I Don't

“Come on,” Cornelius said, “we need to keep going. Stay in one place too long, and those things are going to find us.”

We scrambled over a pile of rubble towards the building, Jane going to the front to light the way. I climbed over it, making sure that the drive was securely in my pocket. If I lost it, I'd be wishing I could be dead.

We crawled through the dark city, hoping and praying that Jane's lights wouldn't alert the monsters of our presence. Giant footsteps and bestial screeches could be heard in the distance, accompanied by the shaking of the earth beneath us.

“So,” I said to Cornelius, “how much do you know about these things?”

He stopped in his tracks. “A little too much,” he answered, almost frozen, “they draw from the elements of their surroundings, and then spit them back out at you. They start as crystals, suck up whatever's around them, and form a body, depending on what elements they take in, and how many crystals they're made of.”

“Okay, wow,” I said, “that’s… more than I was expecting, okay.”

“Chaos liked to blab,” he replied, “it was a miracle whenever he stopped to take a breath.”

“But… didn't he like, not need to breathe?” I asked.

“That's why it was a miracle,” he answered.

We continued in mostly silence, but I always made sure to air my grievances. Nobody liked that. Or me. One of those. Probably both.

“Ugh,” I groaned, “how much farther? My legs hurrrt!”

“Shut up, and two kilometers,” Aubrey said.

“Thanks,” I replied. “Hey, do any of you have wings, by any chance? That would make things a lot-” Aubrey and Cornelius glared at me. “What? Did I say something stupid?”

“You barely ever stop saying stupid shit,” Aubrey snapped, “so, at many points in your life, yes, you did say something stupid.”

“Make that most,” Cornelius commiserated, continuing on his way. Aubrey raised her hand, and they shared a high-five.

I took in my surroundings again. We were in the middle of a business district, it seemed, with tall, urban buildings reaching up to the sky, like desperate, grasping arms clinging to dear life. I could recognize a few shops, but only the ones at ground level. An optometrist here, a pharmacy there, all the kinds of things that look both depressing when full and unsettling when empty.

“It's strange,” I said, “seeing these places all bashed up. Y'know, I used to come here as a kid, every now and then. I hated it.”

“Great,” Aubrey groaned, “why are you telling us this?”

“Just a bit bored, I guess,” I answered, going to stroke an empty store window, “sometimes you just gotta… say shit, y'know?”

“Does that time have to be now?” she complained.

Then, suddenly, trumpeting in the darkness.

“What in the sam hill?” I asked.

“Sam hill? Really?” Aubrey questioned.

“Shush!” I said, “Unless you know what the hell that is, I’m the only one who gets to say dumb shit around here!”

“True,” she agreed.

“Okay, wow,” I said, “real, real fuckin’ vote of confidence, here. Jane, can we get a light on that sound?” Jane waved her hands around, searching the blackness for the source of the sound, penetrating and rhythmic (ha). Then, her arms swung around, and illuminated the source.

“Oh, you motherfucker,” I swore. Caught in her beam of light, was the trombone Demiguard, dooting into the eternal night. He played a short melody in a minor key, and I heard titanic steps lumber towards us.

“Uh, shit,” I swore again, “we’re, uh, we’re gonna need to get out of here!”

“Agreed!” Aubrey said, and we all fucking bolted. The Demiguard played a jazzy tune, and I heard him change positions, playing now from a building in front of us.

“Shit!” I exclaimed, “He’s good! Different direction!” Then, he dooted again, and appeared behind us, and whacked me in the back of the head with the slide of his trombone. “ACK!” I cried, and stumbled forwards. Cornelius caught me, and then tossed me to the ground. “Oh, thanks! Real helpful!” I said, ruffling rubble from my hair.

There were grunts and doots, and Jane did her best to light the conflict between Cornelius and the Demiguard. “COME HERE, YOU!” Cornelius cried, swinging at the Demiguard with his whittling knife, but the Demiguard did not stop, he just kept on dooting. Now, every note that was played coincided with an approaching monster’s footstep, vibrating the ground beneath us.

“Aubrey, can you do something?!” I yell-asked.

“Yes!” she replied loudly.

“Great,” I said, “what can you do?!”

“Gun!” she exclaimed, and whipped out a guardstaff, forming into a bright white bazooka in her hands.

“OKAY THAT’S MAYBE A BIT EXCESSIVE MAYBE THINK THAT THROUGH A LITTLE BIT MORE!” I screamed.

“DO YOU HAVE A BETTER PLAN?!” she screamed back.

“MAYBE USE A LITTLE LESS GUN!” I shouted, crawling backwards through the rubble, “MAYBE A BIT MORE SWORD OR SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW! JUST USE THE ONE THAT GETS US BLOWN UP THE LEAST!”

More doots, and faster footsteps played through the air, and loud clangs could be heard as knife ground up against the trombone’s bell. Aubrey conjured some kind of sniper rifle, aimed for a second, and a loud bang was heard.

“SHIT!” Corn cried, “AIM AT HIM, NOT ME, DUMBASS!”

“I  _ WAS _ AIMING AT HIM!” Aubrey screamed back.

“AIM BETTER!” he yelled.

“SHUT UP!” she screamed. Another gunshot, and a distressed doot. “DID I GET HIM?!”

Corn’s fist collided with something that made a comedic squeaking sound, then the distinct whooshing sound of a shadow portal opening.

“I think so,” Corn said, sighing in relief, “he’s not clinging to my ass anymore, so that’s something.”

Then, more and more titanic footsteps, rumbling towards us.

“Uh, guys,” I said, scrabbling to my feet, “we, uh, I think we got something… big, coming our way.”

“No shit, dumbass,” Aubrey said, swinging her rifle around.

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t like me much,” I said, taking out my scimitar.

“I don’t,” she said, “you’re loud, whiny, unfunny, and-”

“Cripplingly depressed?” I offered.

“I was going to say stupid, but that works too,” she said.

“Jane, shine us a light on something,” Cornelius said.

“Is that the only thing I’m good for?” she asked, sweeping the skyline with her beams.

“You’re the emotional center of the team,” Aubrey added, “but mostly, yeah.”

Then, quiet. Eerie, unnerving quiet. Jane’s lights continued to sweep the sky, not yet picking up anything. Then, something was caught in the light. A draconic snout, carved from steel and mountainous rock, six burning, solar eyes glazing down at us. It bared its fangs, and roared down on us, flecking sparks and heat as it breathed.

“Uh, okay,” I said, freaking out, “this is… not ideal!”


	19. History- Role Models

Eombra had finished telling her son what she wished she never had to, and had fallen asleep, listening to the rain peacefully clattering on the walls and windows of the building. Bracer left the room, and sat on the living room couch, and watched the television as it played disconnected static. His mind was still trying to piece everything together. What was that armour on his hand? What was that scythe about? Why could he see where there was no light, now?

There was a quiet knock on the door. Bracer got up to answer it, taking a look through the peephole before he opened it. He saw a dark-skinned man, hands clasped politely, waiting patiently on the other side. If Eombra had answered it, she would’ve recognized him as the man from earlier that night.

Bracer opened the door a crack. “Yes?”

“Hey,” he said, his voice smooth and calming, “am I talking to Ombracion Withers here? Guitarist of The Banished Knights?”

He was pleased that the man had heard of his music. “Yeah,” he answered, still a little suspicious of the man, “what’re you here for?”

“I just want to talk to you about something,” he said, “if your mom’s up, I’m sure she can vouch for me. We met this evening.”

Bracer took this with a grain of salt, but let him in, anyways. They sat on the couch, and Bracer flicked off the static on the television.

“So,” Bracer began, “what’re you here about?”

“Ombracion,” the man said, “I was recently made aware that… you have… gifts.”

Bracer frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t ask me how I know, but, heh, uh,” he said, “I caught wind of you… using a guardstaff.”

“No I didn’t,” he denied.

“Ombracion,” the man said, “I… I gotta be honest with you, my name is Aharon Solomon. I’m a Guardian, just like you. Just tonight, I think, you were given-”

“I’m not a Guardian,” Bracer denied, “I don’t know where you’re getting this from.”

“Ombracion, please,” the man pleaded, “you can’t deny this. My job is to teach and make sure that young Guardians like you are-”

“Are what?” Bracer said loudly, standing up forcefully, “That they pull shit like that bastard did?”

“I don’t know what-” Aharon began, but Bracer cut him off.

“He raped my mother!” Bracer exclaimed, “He’s my dad! That bastard that left her a wreck and ruined her for life! Is that what you get Guardians to do?”

“He’s not one of mine,” Aharon denied, “he’s-”

“He’s a monster is what he is,” Bracer spat, “now get out of my house,  _ Guardian. _ ”

“Bracer, if you’d just listen-!”

“NO! I’m not going to listen to you!” Bracer said, taking him and almost throwing him out the door, “Guardians aren’t welcome here. I’m not a Guardian. I’m not like you.”

“Ombracion, PLEASE!” Solomon insisted, “You’re going to-”

“LEAVE!” Bracer said, shoving him towards the door. Solomon frowned, and moved to the door.

“Alright, then,” he said sadly, “but don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. You have a great power, son. Don’t waste it.”

“Don’t call me  _ son, _ ” Bracer spat, “now get out.” Aharon sighed, and left the apartment, leaving Bracer alone in the darkness.

Bracer sat down on the couch, and turned the television on again, continuing to listen to the static. He leant back against the pillow, running his hands through his hair. Was this really what he was? Was this night a dream made to torture him, or was it the truth?

Then, a voice came into his head. “You’ve had a long night, haven’t you, child?”

He shot back out of his seat, drawing the scythe immediately, this time. “I said get out! I don’t want any more Guardians here!”

“I am not a Guardian, young one,” the voice said, hoarse and raspy, like an old man inhaling smoke, “in fact, I am almost the farthest thing from being one.”

“Who are you?” Bracer asked, swinging the scythe around frantically, turning on the spot and trying to find the invisible source. 

“Once, they called me Omega,” the voice said, “now, they call me banished. I see that you yourself bear that mantle.”

“What do you want from me?” he asked.

“Nothing,” they said, “I only wish to help you. You have been beaten down and cursed since before you were even born. Your mother suffers for no fault of her own, as do you. I know that the Guardians have skewed the world in their favour. They leave people like you in the dust just to keep the people they deem as worthy safe. But you, child, you have their power, but you are a rebel. You can turn their tides. Hear my words, and you will learn all that you need. You will become the saviour of the broken, child.”

“Why? Why me?” Bracer asked.

“Because I see the good in you,” they said, “I see the good where your world only sees a bastard child who acts out and tortures his classmates. No. You are a survivor, who seeks justice against the criminals who abused him. You can rise above them, child. Make them the ones who stand in your shadow. You will be a hero.”

“What do I get out of it, then?” he asked again.

“Everything you have ever wanted,” Omega said, “love, and justice.”

“If I do heed your word,” Bracer said, “do you promise you will keep it?”

“Yes, child,” they said, “believe me, I will never betray your trust. Goodnight, child. Sleep well.” Bracer waited, listening to the static for a few moments, and confirmed that the voice had left him.

At last, he shut off the television, and went to bed. He ran his hands through his hair again, but pawed at the guardstaff in his pocket, still curious… was this really him?


	20. History- What Have I Done

Bracer woke up about eight hours later, the meager sunlight that shone through the heavy cloud layer of the planet striking him squarely on the eyes. He grunted, blinked, and sat up in bed, still in his clothes from the night before. Again, he felt the guardstaff in his pocket, and shame crept up his nerves.

He shook off the blankets, and stood up, examining himself. He had neglected to notice, the night before, that his muscles had strengthened, and his body adjusted itself to fit the physical needs of a Guardian. He sighed at this, but didn’t disagree with the gain.

He stumbled out of the room, and across the hall to his mother’s bedroom. He creaked the door open, and his mother stirred awake.

“Hey,” Bracer said quietly, “are you awake?”

“I am now,” she said with a chuckle, then frowned. “I’m so sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s alright,” he said, “he deserved it.”

“Thanks,” she said, and smiled a little. “So, I heard someone come in last night, and… yelling. What was-”

“It- it doesn’t matter,” Bracer dismissed, “it’s just- someone from the band got pissed at me.”

“Who?” Eombra asked, frowning again.

“Kage,” Bracer lied, thumbing at the guardstaff in his pocket, “he didn’t want me to-”

Eombra furrowed her brow, and Bracer caved. “It was… it was a Guardian,” he admitted, “he just- I- he said he knew you.”

She scowled at him, now. “Why did you let a Guardian in?”

“I- he didn’t introduce himself as a Guardian, h-he-”

“What did he want?” Eombra inquired, hate building within her voice.

“He just- nothing! It’s nothing!” Bracer said, his fretting getting more obvious.

Eombra shoved the blanket aside, and stood up, wobbling on her damaged leg, but forceful nonetheless. “What. Did he. Want?”

“I- I don’t-” he stammered, but his mother cut him off, even louder now.

“WHAT DID HE WANT?!” she screamed.

“I-” he stumbled, and stepped backwards, tripping over discarded clothes. He fell back against the wall, and the guardstaff almost jumped out of his hand and pocket. The hilt of the weapon clattered to the floor, catching Eombra’s eye.

“No,” she said in shock, “you can’t- no!”

“Mom, please, I’m not-!” he attempted, but she screamed at him again.

“NO! GET OUT!” she screamed, “GET OUT!” Looking at him, she could no longer see her son, only that bastard that had scarred her years ago.

Bracer stumbled backwards out of the door, and clambered through the house, as his mother continued to scream at him. “OUT OF MY HOUSE! OUT!” She picked up the guardstaff, hands trembling at the touch, and threw it in his face.  _ “OUT!” _

It cracked against his head, drawing blood. He ran out of the house, angry tears and blood mixing on his face.

“FINE!” he yelled back, “I’M GOING!” He burst through the door, slamming it shut behind himself, nearly cracking the wood. Eombra walked over to the guardstaff, and stamped it under her foot, cracking it into pieces. Again and again she stomped on it, breaking the metal more and more, until it was indistinguishable from the detritus strewn about the floor.

The instrument of her ruin now in pieces on the floor, she collapsed, curling up into a ball. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… my baby…”

  
  
  


Bracer stormed out of the building, and the rain picked up just as he pushed through the glass doors. The brief light of morning had vanished, and he was in the dark again, curled up with the trash cans against the outside wall of the apartment.

“It’s not my fault…” he said, trembling in the cold and dark, “it’s not my fault… IT’S NOT!” He wailed into the dark, not caring if anyone could see or hear him. “It’s not my fault…” He shut his eyes, and whimpered to himself.

Then, a pattern of three steps approached. He looked up, straightening his face, and glared up at the source. A pale, grey-haired old man with piercing orange eyes walked with swagger towards him, leaning on a cane he clearly didn’t need, wearing a billowing, white fur coat. The strange man stopped before him.

“What’s the matter, my boy?” the man asked, “Wake up on the wrong side of society?”

Bracer shot up, and took the man by the throat. “What the hell does it matter to you?” he asked, gripping his throat as hard as possible.

The man simply rolled his eyes, and continued on like nothing had happened. “Now, that’s not terribly polite.”

Bracer removed his hand from this man’s neck. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Well, I caught wind of the, erm, how do you say awakening, of a new Guardian,” the man said, twirling his cane and vanishing it into his coat, “and I was wondering if… you would mind taking some advice from an old pro.” He slipped a guardstaff out from under his coat, and offered it to Bracer.

Bracer held it tenderly in his hands. “What do you want?” he asked again, less vitriol in his voice.

“Just to teach another how to fight back against the system,” the man said with a mischievous smile on his face, “I’ll be popping in, here and there, but the rest is up to you, friend.

The man turned, and strode away, twirling his cane on his way out. “Who are you?” Bracer asked. The man turned his head halfway, and grinned.

“Call me Chaos,” he said, “now, don’t you have a recording session to get to?” Bracer looked down at the guardstaff, and when he looked up again, the strange man was gone.

He wiped the tears and blood from his face, and stood up. He rubbed his forehead in contemplation, and wondered; where was he going to go now?


	21. Ian- Guillermo Del Toro is Suing for Copyright Infringement

“How do we kill it?!” I asked Cornelius.

“With great difficulty!” he answered.

“Do you mean, like, with swords, or like, a gun?” I asked.

“JUST FUCKING RUN!” he urged, turning tail and bolting in the opposite direction.

“Good idea!” I said, and lifted my legs and shot away with him, hearing the others coming up fast behind me. The beast roared again, and I looked up to see it’s mouth, conjuring a flame that projected the shadow of its teeth down on us. The flame churned and grumbled, and finally burst downwards in a volcanic plume of fire, scorching the ground behind us, trailing us only meters behind.

“AAAAH!” I screamed, as the fire came close enough that could’ve torched my heels.

“SHUT UP!” Cornelius scolded, leaping over a pile of rubble.

“I AGREE WITH HIM!” Jane yelled over the sound of the flames.

“WHICH HIM?!” Aubrey asked.

“YES!”

I hiked my legs, and lept over a cluster of beams and rubble, shooting through a broken sliding door into a building. Jane and Aubrey came in behind me, but Cornelius went a different direction.

“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!” I asked him.

“TO THE FUCKING SHIP, JACKASS!” he said, turning a corner and vanishing beyond the view of the windows.

“GOOD IDEA!” I said, and jumped back out the broken doors. I looked up, and saw the beast charging another fire blast, aimed in our direction. “I CHANGED MY MIND IT’S A BAD IDEA!” I ran back into the building, narrowly escaping the flames as they came down.

“WHAT NOW?!” Jane asked, looking like she was about to tear her hair out.

“Um, uh,” I stammered, “we break down a wall!”

“WHAT?!” she asked.

“DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA?!” I yelled.

“NOPE!” Aubrey answered for her, and summoned a comically large hammer, “LET’S HOPE THIS ONE ISN’T LOAD-BEARING!” She swung the weapon, and demolished the wall, opening us up to the world. “LET’S GO!”

We rushed out the hole in the wall, and out into the streets, spying Corn in the near distance. “WAIT UP!” I cried after him.

“THAT’S A HORRIBLE IDEA!” he yelled back. The monster came up close behind us, and smashed the building down with its massive, clawed feet, briefly illuminated by the lingering flames it had created on the building.

“HE’S RIGHT!” Aubrey agreed.

“CAN SOMEBODY JUST FOR ONCE BE ON MY SIDE?!” I yelled, raising my legs even higher now.

“NO!” she replied. The monster fired again, aiming just ahead of us, scorching another building, which came crumbling down as a result. 

“ARE WE ANY CLOSER TO THE SHIP?” Cornelius asked.

“JUST A LITTLE!” Aubrey replied, “IT’S STILL A HALF HOUR AWAY IF WE KEEP AT THIS PACE!”

“SON OF A BITCH!” I shouted. The beast stomped forwards, so close now that I could almost touch its claws, which I really didn’t want to do ever at all. I might be immortal, but being murdered to death is still painful, just saying.

Another blast landed even closer, torching the street before us. “SHIT!” I exclaimed, screeching to a halt. The fire continued to burn in front of us, and the monster stood just behind us, heaving with titanic breaths.

“Uh, okay,” I said, “what do we do now?”

“We kill it,” Aubrey said, aiming her rifle, “or we get killed first.”

“Yeah, okay, sure, sounds good, sounds fine,” I said, nervously gripping my scimitar.

“Everyone,” she continued, “break out the big guns.”

“Big guns?” I asked.

“FUCKING ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADES, DUMBASS!” she yelled, and summoned the bazooka she had wanted to use earlier. 

“That seems… relatively sound!” I said, and morphed my scimitar into a similar weapon, and Cornelius did the same.

The monster began to charge another blast, and we aimed our weapons down its gullet. “READY,” Aubrey called, “AIM-”

“FIRE!” Cornelius finished for her, and we all blasted the missiles off down its muzzle, exploding as they hit the charged ball of flame that had built in its throat. It screamed, recoiling backwards.

“YES!” I exclaimed, pumping my fist. Except… it… wasn’t really what I had hoped for. The monster was intact, and had only become more pissed than before. It growled, and bared its teeth, trying to conjure a flame, but nothing came. So, instead, it decided to hunch its back, and swing at us with massive arms that scraped the pavement as they came down.

“SHIT!” I cried, trying to dodge the massive limbs, “WHAT DO WE DO?!” As I asked, the others were scooped up in one hand, and lifted to the sky.

“NO!” I cried, as I saw the monster curl its fingers around them. It gazed at its clenched fist, and did something that came close to being a chuckle.

“No,” I reiterated, my face becoming fierce, and my weapon becoming a scimitar again, “you fuckers already took enough of us. You took Drannis from us, and you took millions of lives from around this planet! Well I’ve got news for you, fucker; I AIN’T LETTIN’ NONE OF THIS SHIT KEEP HAPPENIN’, AIGHT?!”

I stuck out my hand, and felt the universe around me like I had before at the council. “Drop them now, or I blast you to pieces.” It turned its head, and roared at me. “Alright, if that’s how you wanna play it, then fine.”

I cracked through the fabric of the universe, teleporting up to its head, and piercing the rocky beast’s skull with my blade, that grew longer as it penetrated. It reeled backwards in pain, and I pulled the blade out, teleporting again under its neck, and slicing a trail down its throat.

“DON’T-” I said, slicing its wrist.

“TOUCH-” I cut out half of its eyes.

“MY FRIENDS!” I appeared in its mouth, and stabbed upwards, slicing a circle in the roof of its mouth. It screamed again, and tumbled backwards, and I teleported quickly back down to the street. 

Finally vanquished, it began to dissolve, and landed on top of a building, making more irregularly shaped gashes in the buildings. I saw my companions tumble from its evaporating fist, and I teleported them out of there just quick enough that they landed safely on the ground.

Corn was the first to sit up. “What was- you- we were-”

I held up my scimitar, and gave it a wave. “Nothin’ a good stabbing can’t fix,” I said with a smile, “Also, I think I got us a shortcut to the ship.” I snapped my fingers, which was usually something I couldn’t do, so yay me, I guess, and we were suddenly magicked into the ship.

“Why didn’t you do this earlier?!” Cornelius complained, standing up, and getting to his seat.

“I didn’t need to do it earlier,” I argued, “and I also couldn’t do it earlier.”

“I call bullshit, but okay,” Aubrey said. 

Jane went to her seat, trembling a little. “You alright, Jane?” I asked her.

She shrugged, and trembled a little more. “Well, uh, you know,” she stammered, “things.”

“I’ll take that as a maybe, then,” I said, with a small melancholic chuckle.

Aubrey scooted over to Corn, and I prepared the course, and the ship lifted off into the sky, moving slowly up through the atmosphere.

“Should we… should we tell him?” Aubrey asked Corn, who promptly shushed her.

“Tell who what?” I asked, still mostly focused on the controls.

Corn tried to cover her mouth, but Aubrey blurted it out anyways. “Drannis is still alive down there.”

My eyes went wide, then I scowled at them. “You mOTHERFUCKERS-!”


	22. Ajay- This is All Complete and Utter Bullshit

Hey, guess what? I had a shitty space dream! Yaaay! I really,  _ really _ need to do something about this shit. It’s getting annoying. This time, I didn’t appear anywhere terribly concrete. Instead, I was standing in a void, watching duplicates of myself being mowed down by something I couldn’t see. Screams in my voice but not from my mouth echoed through the darkness, and I heard a blade cleave through armour, and one by one my doppelgangers fell.

Standing there, in the midst of the bodies, was Magmortarus, his blade dripping with our collective blood, himself heaving with rage and exhaustion. I took a sharp breath, and he took notice, staring me down, and flinging his blade at my face. Before it could connect, the setting of the dream changed, and he and the blade vanished.

Now, the pile of bodies was replaced by a lineup of doppelgangers, this time, not my own. This time, they were Ian’s, their faces dripping with tears, and carrying fearful grimaces on their faces. 

“What is thi-” I began to ask, when each of the doppelgangers took out guardstaffs from their pockets, and each summoned an identical knife or pistol. I could tell what was coming.

“No, no don’t!” I pleaded, reaching out, but I found that, no matter how fast my legs ran, I was always too far away to stop them. They drew the blades, and poised them over different places, as with the guns. Wrists, throats, chests, stomachs, foreheads, anything that couldn’t be fixed.

“NO!” I screamed, but they didn’t stop. Gunshots, screams and the sounds of blades piercing flesh filled the darkness. In moments, they had all fallen down, bleeding or splattered against the nothingness. All but one. 

He stood there, purple blade poised to his right wrist, crying and trembling. “Please,” I pleaded with him, “please…” I fell to my knees, and so did he.

He finally acknowledged me, but couldn’t stop himself. The blade cleaved through his wrist, and he fell to his side, lifeless. Finally, I could move, and I rushed to his side, cradling him in my arms. 

“No, no, PLEASE!” I pleaded, “PLEASE!” I knew this was a dream, but my emotions got the better of me, and I broke down into tears. I turned his face to meet mine, and saw him taking fast breaths, trying to stay alive. Then, finally, he stopped. His heart ceased to beat, and a final breath escaped his mouth.

“No…” I wept, unable to realise the unreality of the situation. Then, something happened. His head twitch, and he grinned manically up at me. His eyes widened, and shone a startling  orange.

“Why the long face, kid?” he said, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” I threw him aside, and the setting shifted. Ian shifted and warped, reshaping himself into Chaos. We were now standing in the ballroom Chaos had brought me to before, but with the patrons now standing around the edges of the room. 

Chaos tumbled to his feet, and swept around. “What’s wrong? Feeling a little sentimental, are we?”

“YOU!” I yelled, drawing my sword, and running at him. I ran up to him, and our blades clashed. He swiped the fanciful sword, and sliced at my face, making me bleed and sending me backwards. 

“What the hell is this about?” I asked him, wiping blood out of my eyes.

“Oh, just having a little fun,” he said, leaning on his rapier like a cane, “besides, you shot at my house, I just wanted to get a little payback. You were lucky that explosion came during a bass drop.”

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, you sweet, summer child,” he said pedantically, “you really have no idea what the hell is going on, do you? Well, one of your little  _ troupe _ shot at my pillar, and  _ disrupted _ my party! Actually, maybe a little disruption would be a good thing. Say, would you mind popping over for a little bit? Maybe some gnosh, a little drink, what do you say to that, old chap?”

I stared at him with confused amazement. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

He flipped me a business card, with his name and address on it. In bright orange letters on a gray background was written  _ “Chaos, Career Troublemaker and Mass Murderer, 17 That Pillar You Fucking Assholes Shot At Lane. _ ”

“Pop by sometime, good fellow,” he said, “we’ll be waiting.” He flashed a devious grin, and threw his rapier with exceptional precision towards me, piercing my skull and killing me instantly. 

I woke up in a cold sweat, and yelled. “GAH!”

In response, everyone else woke up, startled into the waking world. 

“Who died?” Alex asked, shooting upwards.

“Do you want a list, or an update?” Xander asked in return.

“Was it Chaos again?” Solomon asked, getting straight to the point.

“Pretty sure,” I said, unable to shake the image of my dead boyfriend transforming into the madman, “otherwise someone’s doing a bang-up job of impersonating him. Y’know that pillar Lena tried to blow up? He’s in there.”

“Oh, bollocks,” Solomon swore, “but what is the importance of that place, then?”

“I think- I think he wants some company,” I said, “for lack of a better term. He wants us to visit.”

“Oh, that’s preposterous,” Solomon dismissed, passing through the shaft of light to lean up against the wall, “why in the world would we go to visit him?”

“I want to go,” Xander said, “killing him once isn’t enough.”

I stared at him, deeply unsettled. “Uh, okay, sure, I’m… not going to argue with that one.”

“Not if I get to kill him first,” Lena interjected.

“You can only kill him once, you know that, right?” Alex interjected.

“That’s… maybe flexible,” I said, putting some puzzle pieces together.

“... It’s fucking what?” she asked incredulously.

“I don’t fucking know either, okay?” I told her. 

I heard Gordon do some ruffling, to which Alex replied, “Gordon, you know we can’t hear you in this light, right? Wait… fuck.”

“So… what do we want to do?” I asked Solomon.

He sighed, and I could faintly make out the silhouette of him rubbing his forehead. “I… suppose it could be beneficial. I imagine he must be close to or have some way of accessing this universe’s core, being of such importance.”

“Are we really doing this?” Alex asked, “The last time we walked in on one of Chaos’ parties Gordon ended up getting killed.” Gordon shuffled, and Alex understood, replying, “Yes, yes, it was a sacrifice, but you still died! That’s not a good thing!”

“Are we all un agreement?” Solomon asked. 

I could hear shrugs, and Lena answered with a hearty “Fuck you, I’m going to murder the shit out of those fuckers.”

“How bad could it be?” I asked sarcastically, “Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Alex stood up, and tossed the wall aside with a combination of her own strength and elemental proficiency. “Well, if it’s all going to shit, might as well do it right. And y’all need to fix your hair, you guys have mad bedhead.”

I pawed my hair down out of insecurity, and stepped out of the cave. I gazed up, and saw the ominous pillar looming in the distance, still crawling with Halfguard. Good stuff, quality, absolute quality content. We were going to die.


	23. History- My, How You've Grown

For the next few weeks, Eombra stayed in her apartment, sulking and living off of scraps. She refused to leave, wading through her own misery, regretting every single word and movement she had taken against her son. But, eventually, she pulled herself together enough to slump down the stairs into the streets, and trudge to a convenience store.

She didn’t realize how bad she had gotten until she spied herself in the reflective glass of the shop’s front door. Her cheeks were sallow, and her eyes had bags that reached damn near down to her jawline. She put a hand to her face and grimaced, ashamed and horrified at what she had let herself become. She entered the store anyways, taking necessity over want.

The bell rung as she entered, and a teenage clerk’s eyes were momentarily drawn to her, but he resumed his job, gazing intently down at the cash register and shuffling its contents. A television played behind him, the broadcaster reciting dark and dreary forecasts and miserable daily events.

Eombra stepped purposefully through the aisles, collecting her groceries in fast order, and shuffled to the cash register. As the cashier registered her groceries, the sounds of the television finally registered in her ear.

“... Finally, today, a band in the county of Overshade delivered a powerful speech,” the announcer said, “speaking out against the injustices that Guardians are allowed to commit because of their power. Here’s the clip.”

The feed shifted, and now displayed footage from a handheld camera, cropped to fit onto the wider screen of the common television. On the stage, clutching the microphone, was her son, Bracer, attempting to speak over the roaring crowd.

“Thank you! Thank you!” he said, “Thanks for coming. I’m- I’m very glad to have you all here because… because today I’d… I’d like to talk about something very personal to me.

“About eighteen, maybe nineteen years ago,” he continued, “my mother was… was assaulted by a Guardian.” Eombra froze at the mention of this. “And do you know what came of it?” The audience quietened, clinging to his words like scripture. “I came of it. Nineteen years ago, that bastard left my mother scarred and nearly destroyed. I’m not sure if I should be speaking for her, but… but I’m the only one who can.”

From his pocket, he produced a guardstaff. Eombra recoiled at the sight of it. Even on television, it made her deeply uncomfortable.

“Ma’am?” the cashier said, having finished checking her items, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she lied, “just give me a moment.”

On the television, Bracer held up the guardstaff, and summoned a black scythe. She felt like fainting, but held herself up against the counter.

“You see this right here?” Bracer said, brandishing the weapon, “This is a symbol of the Guardians. This right here is an omen of death! This is what they are to us! Murderers! Destroyers of our lives! I urge you all to fight back against these tyrants! They might have the power, but you all have the numbers!”

The crowd roared in approval, and the footage cut out. Before the announcer could congratulate him on his speech, Eombra grabbed the bags and ran.

“Hey, lady!” the cashier said, “You didn’t pay!”

Eombra tossed money out of her pocket, strewing it on the floor, and continued out of the store. She ran back to her building, and up to her apartment. She slammed the door behind her, and dashed the groceries across the floor. Briefly, she acknowledged her mistake, but rushed to the television, switching to the same news channel, desperate to catch another glance of her son. Instead, the screen displayed a different, but more frightening headline.

“Developing story: band member fatally shot by unknown Guardian.”

She took a sharp breath, ready to collapse in on herself, but the screen then displayed another member of Bracer's band, Kage Larsson. She breathed a sigh of relief, but her relief was not to last, as the newsfeed displayed footage of the shooting, showing the event from afar, in the backstage of a concert hall.

A Guardian in red armour held up a burning handgun, and took aim on the teenage boy, and shot him through the head. The boy fell to the floor, the flame of the bullet burning at his skull, and the Guardian ran from the scene. Then, another person walked into frame. Bracer knelt down before the dying boy, looked up, and quickly ran after the Guardian.

“No,” escaped from Eombra’s mouth. Her son was walking into a battlefield, against his father. This could end one of two ways, and it looked to her like the scale of justice was tipped against her and her son.


	24. History- Battle of the Bastards

Bracer ran as fast as he could've after the Guardian, gripping his guardstaff in his hand, the armour of a Guardian forming over his skin.

“COME BACK HERE!” he cried after the man, who was also running at full speed. The man tossed back plume of fire, but it dispersed around Bracer, taking the stage and surroundings as collateral. He threw chairs and trash bins back at his son, and burst through the emergency exit, triggering the fire alarms and the sprinklers. Bracer burst out behind him, following him into the streets, his scythe now fully formed in his hand.

“BASTARD!” Bracer screamed after him, the large weapon trailing behind himself. The man turned briefly to face him, but kept running, pushing down civilians as he went. He turned a corner, and Bracer was still on his tail, even as he flung back clouds of fire.

Bracer dispersed the flames, not taking notice of the destruction his father was causing, only focused on the man himself. He turned another corner, and stood in the middle of an empty street, his father standing opposite him, farther away than he had realized. He turned to face his son, and Bracer to his father. 

“You're one to be calling me bastard, kid,” he said with a smirk, “don't forget where you came from.”

“I didn't,” Bracer said, gripping the scythe with both hands, now, “I only came from my mom. You never had anything to do with me.”

The man cracked his flaming whip, and sneered at his child. “You'd love that, wouldn't you? Love to live your lie, wouldn't you? Well, I got news for you, sonny: you're never going to escape me, NEVER! I OWN YOU!”

Bracer erupted, roaring and raising his weapon against the man, ready and more than willing to kill him. The man raised his whip, and cracked it, snapping it around the staff of the scythe, but Bracer resisted his pull, yanking the guardstaff away, and flinging into the air behind him.

Again, the man flung flames at his son, spitting them out onto the street, recklessly burning civilians, who screamed and ran in response. His son pushed the flames aside, raising his scythe against the man, and plunging it into the ground before him, sending the fire rippling away like a wave. 

“RAAH!” Bracer roared, swinging the blade again, his father just barely outside of his range. The man stumbled backwards, tripping over a pothole and falling backwards into the flame. Bracer hung his scythe over the man's head, threatening to drop it.

“Any last words?” Bracer asked.

His eyes were wide, terrified and weak. “Please, I-” he began, but Bracer cut him off.

“Those are enough,” he said, and drew the blade of his scythe against his throat, and blood exploded from the scene. The man gasped, blood spilling from his mouth, desperate and afraid. He coughed his last, and Bracer took a sigh of relief.

Then, he realized the fire that was burning around him, and made a split second decision. The elemental Stone that once gave his father his power melted from his forehead, quivering in the air, and Bracer snatched it as it rose.

Almost instinctively, Bracer put the Stone to his forehead, and pushed it in. He felt new, strange elemental power course through him, and quickly could feel the flames from afar. He reached out, and pulled the fire into himself, taking every last lick of flame into his body. Finished, he pulled the Stone back out from his forehead, and tossed it to the ground, standing proudly over his father's body.

Overcome with rage and emotion, Bracer tilted his head back, and roared into the sky, and fell to his knees, exhausted from the battle. His vision was blurry, but he could see people rushing to his aid. 

“Bracer? Bracer, are you okay?” he heard a woman ask. It was Noira, holding him by the shoulders, who then hugged him close.

“I’m- I'm fine,” he answered, hugging her back, “what about the others?” 

Noira laughed a little. “What the hell does it matter? You're safe!”

Then, more people came to his aid. He recognized Karkan and Darrick, his other bandmates, as they quarrelled over him, trying to get him away from Noira. She pushed them aside, helping Bracer to his feet, and walking with him away from the site. Above them, news helicopters hovered. 

His vision returned to him, and he could see the masses gathering around him, cheering his victory. Then, at the back of the crowd, he saw another familiar face. Dressed in the very same cloak as before, Chaos hung at the back, smiling approvingly.

Newscasters came forward, shoving microphones in his face. Noira dismissed them, telling them he needed his space.

“Get the hell out of here, you needy fucks!” she chided them, “He’s not talking to you until he wants to!”

Noira carried him away from the scene, bringing him to her car, where they sat together in the silence.

They both sat quietly, still processing what had happened. “So…” Noira said, breaking the quiet.

“So,” Bracer repeated.

“This is going to be one hell of a story someday,” she said with a joyless chuckle.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Wait till your mom hears about this one,” she said, and laughed again.

“Yeah.”


	25. Ian- send_help.png

“What the hell do you mean she’s alive?!” I pressed them.

Cornelius waved his hands, acting flustered and denying it, but Aubrey spoke out. “Drannis wasn’t killed by the rubble. She was just in a lot of pain, and didn’t have much strength. She wanted to get us out of there so she wouldn’t be slowing us down.”

“Well, we have to go back for her!” I said, turning the ship around.

“We can’t go back for her!” Cornelius argued, “It’s- there’s- there’s monsters down there, giant monsters that will kill us!”

“Why are you the one saying this? I’m the one with crippling depression!” I argued, continuing on my path with the ship.

“AND THE ONE WITH IMMORTALITY!” he argued back.

“Shush!” I replied.

“Corn, shut up,” Aubrey insisted.

“But- it’s- we can’t-!” he stammered, “Oh, fuck it. Jane? Gonna help me out here at all?”

Jane took a moment to think, and replied, “We’re going to get her.”

“The baby has spoken,” I said, “we’re getting Drannis.” I swept the ship down through the city, searching once again for the school.

“Come on, come on,” I chanted, “papa needs a plot convenience.” Going even faster than before, I surveyed the city, shooting through the city at incredible pace, trying to find some landmark or recognizable building. The ship’s lights illuminated the destruction, even finding a few of those Kaiju things or whatever on the way.

“Aubrey, any input on this?” I asked, still concentrated on the viewscreen.

“I’m not from here,” she said, “not even technically this planet. Why would I know where the school is?”

“Okay, I’ll skip the bullshit this time,” I said, skipping over her painful pedantics, “ _ do _ you know where the school is?”

“To the east five kilometers, then north another four,” she answered, “just past the Scotiabank building.”

“Thanks,” I acknowledged, “now, let’s save us a damsel.”

“That’s incredibly demeaning,” Aubrey said, “but okay.”

“Also, which way is east?” I asked. She pointed to the left. “Really? Wow, okay, was not expecting that. You learn something new every day.” 

I turned a hard left, nearly sweeping myself off my feet with the speed of it, and zipped off. A few moments later, the five kilometers had passed, I parsed out what direction was north in my head, took another sharp turn, then bolted again. More than once, we buzzed one of the titanic monsters, and it roared at us as we passed.

“Fucking hell,” I said as we passed one, “how big do those guys get?”

“The largest is seven hundred feet in height,” Aubrey autocompleted, “longest coming in at nine hundred.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked her.

“I put two and two together,” she answered.

“... Sounds fake, but okay,” I resigned. 

Finally, the ship came to a halt over the school, and I lowered it down, careful not to draw the ire of any of the beasts that lurked about the city. We landed, and the door lowered, shining the internal light of the ship onto the demolished parking lot.

“Jane, come with me,” I said, “I can’t see for shit to begin with, so I’m gonna need a flashlight for this one.”

“Why am I always just the flashlight?” she said, still sitting meekly in her seat.

“Because you do it so well,” I answered, “now come on, we need to find Drannis.” She sighed, but came along with me. I walked up to where the door would have usually been, and lifted the rubble with all my might. I moved, like, an inch.

“Ah, shit,” I swore, “can you-?”

Jane preempted me by taking a hold of a large chunk of rubble, and began to lift it with all her strength, and I helped too as well also. We tossed the chunk aside, and clamored into the building.

I searched through the building with Jane lighting the way from behind me, desperately trying to find where Drannis had been knocked down.

“Come on, come on! Where is she?!” I worried, “DRANNIS?! DRANNIS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!” There was no reply. “Agh,” I grunted, and crawled over another pile of rubble. “I think- I think we were by the arts room, argh, where is that?! The one time I actually need to know the layout of this fucking place!”

I scrambled through the wrecked building, furiously trying to make sense of my surroundings. Was that the band room or did the gym fall through the ceiling? Is that something from the bio lab, or was that a body? Actually, probably both. Eugh.

“DAMMIT!” I cried, slamming my fists against a wall, “WHERE IS SHE?!” Then, I heard something like a whimper in the dark, and I quieted, so that the only sound was my shallow breathing. The whimper sounded again, and I followed my ears to the source. 

“Please let that be her, please let that be her!” I chanted. Jane was trailing behind me, trying to keep up with my frantic pace.

“Slow down!” she pleaded. I stopped briefly to let her catch up, then continued on my way. I had to find her as fast as I could.

Then, I turned a corner, and saw, at the end of a long hallway, Drannis, lying in the rubble, twitching slightly. She was badly beaten up, but still breathing, and still moving. I ran down the hallway, nearly tripping over the rubble and destruction left by that centipede monster, and arrived at her side, kneeling on the rubble.

“Drannis, Drannis, wake up!” I urged her, slapping her face in attempt to get her out of her apparent coma. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at me.

“Ian?” she asked, “What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave me behind!”

“I couldn’t,” I said, “I tried, but… fuck it, Ohana means family.”

“Uh, okay,” she said, confused by my earthly idioms, “but I’m just going to slow you down. My legs-” the rubble moved beneath her, and she winced, “I think- I think they’re busted. Even if you get me out of here, I don’t think I can survive these injuries. Ian, you have to let me go.”

“No, I’m not losing you! Too many people I know have died in the past year alone,” I told her, “you’re not going on that list.”

“Listen, Ian,” she said, lifting her good arm to my cheek, “some people just aren’t meant to survive. Some of us- some of us have to be left behind.”

“You’re not one of them!” I insisted, “I’m going to get you out of here! I just need to-” she slapped me across the face.

“Get out of here!” she reiterated, “Save the rest of them!”

“NO!” I yelled, now, taking out my guardstaff, “I can- I can cut you out of this! You can make it ou-”

She wrenched the blade from my hands, and held it to her throat. “Get out,” she threatened, “or I… I-!”

The blade turned black in her hands. I stammered, and tried to summon something. Then, from behind, Jane spoke. “Drannis?” she said, her voice quivering. Drannis paused, and dropped the blade. 

I turned to Jane, know. “Jane,” I said to her, “what do you think we should do?”

She frowned, afraid. “I- Drannis- I need you all.”

Drannis grimaced, and hung her head. “Cut me out of here, then. But keep as many limbs as you can. I kinda like them.”

“I can’t make any promises,” I said, half-joking and half-sincere, “let’s hope we do better than Robert Liston.”

“Who?” she asked.

“Uh, maybe it’s best you don’t know that one,” I said, smiling weakly. I took the guardstaff back, and plunged the blade down, and accidentally pierced something. Drannis screamed in pain, and I pulled out. “Sorry!” I apologized, and tried to better aim my blade a bit better. I plunged, and managed to lever more of the rubble off. 

Again and again, I repeated this process, resulting in a few slices to her legs, but getting enough slabs of concrete and tiling off of her so that I could heave her out of the wreckage.

“Okay,” I said, taking her by her good arm, “hold the fuck on, this is gonna hurt.”

“More?” she asked with a grimace.

“Unfortunately,” I said, and yanked her out of the mess. With a groan, a grunt and a scream, she was free. I held her to my chest, and helped her limp out of the building.

“So,” I said, taking heaving breaths as Jane led us out of the building, “you doin’ alright?”

“Not really,” Drannis answered through gritted teeth.

“Great, that means it’s working,” I said jokingly. She laughed, and coughed up a bit of blood. “Oh, that’s not fantastic,” I remarked, “let’s get you to the ship.”

We stepped out of the building, and walked slowly towards the the ship. We trudged up the ramp, and Jane helped me lay out Drannis on the seats. I took the helm again, and blasted off through the atmosphere.

“Okay,” I said, “little change of plans: we’re getting Drannis to the hospital, then we’re plugging this drive into something.”

“Thanks,” Drannis said weakly, managing a thumbs-up.

I smirked, and watched as the stars went by, and our new Earth quickly appeared on the viewscreen. Time to fix this shit.


	26. Ian- Well That's Not Ideal

“So,” I said, helping Drannis out of the ship, “how’s your day been?”

She laughed, and coughed a little, as well. “Not the greatest.” I laughed, too. We had landed on the helicopter pad of a hospital, which was thankfully unoccupied. A small team of confused paramedics escaped from the elevator, gurney in tow.

We limped towards the hospital, and Aubrey came in to support her from the other side.

“Thanks,” I told her.

“Not a problem,” she replied, “not a favour, either, but we make do with what we have.”

The medics scuttled over to us, and we lifted Drannis up onto the gurney. They wheeled her back down to the elevator, and Aubrey and I crammed in with them. We all looked mildly irritated and unsettled. Business as usual.

The elevator finished its descent, and we filed out of it. I was expecting more of a chase, but they just sort of… parked it. Yeah, just sort of planted it in the hallway.

“Hey, uh,” I inserted as the medics began to walk away, “she needs to get to surgery or something, doesn’t she?”

A nurse turned and began to pull off her gloves. “She’s in no immediate danger,” the nurse presumed, “besides, we’re full up in here. We don’t have any more free beds.”

“Wh- but she had a building fall on her! And a sword through her leg!” I said, not realizing how fucking insane I probably sounded.

The nurse looked at me with shock and confusion. “You- she what?”

“An alien centipede made of rocks collapsed a school on her and Ian stabbed her through the leg with a scimitar by accident when he tried to get the fallen rubble off of her,” Aubrey answered with too much honesty.

“She’s not wrong,” Drannis added, raising a weak finger and indicating the blade wound to prove her point.

The nurse looked afraid now. “Uhh, well, she’s still going to have to wait either way. Our surgery theatres are all full up right now, so… sorry, but, this is just how it’s going to have to be.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “I- I guess that’s fine,” I compromised, “b-but you’d better take good care of her, alright?”

“We will,” the nurse said reassuringly, “now, does she have any emergency contacts?”

I turned to Aubrey. “Do they have phones in space?” She shrugged. I turned and fumbled for the clipboard on the gurney, and wrote down my home phone number with the supplied pen. “If there’s any updates,” I said, “call this.”

“A-alright,” the nurse said, “I’ll inform the doctors.”

“Thank you,” I said, moving back to the elevator, “come on, ‘Brey, we have a USB to plug in.”

“That’s not my name,” she corrected me.

_ “It’s an abbreviation!” _ I whisper-screamed.

“It’s still wrong!” she continued as we crammed into the elevator.

“Oh, boy,” I said. Thankfully, the elevator slid past the topmost floor and up to the roof, and we returned peacefully (and by that I mean with extended amounts of bickering dear sweet Mata Nui make it stop) to the ship. Love that.

  
  
  


We returned back home after approximately three seconds of hell, and I plonked the ship down in the roundabout of the cul-de-sac. Yeah, I could’ve parked it somewhere that wouldn’t have interfered with traffic, but I… don’t care that much. Too lazy. We filed out of the ship, and over to Solomon’s house.

“Jane? Can you get the door?” I requested.

“Sure,” she replied, and zipped over, producing a set of keys from her pocket. She inserted them and turned, and ushered us in, and I quickly scuttled away to Solomon’s room to plug the thingy in. I flashed her a smile, and turned the corner into Solomon’s room. I poked my head back out, and commanded, “And somebody put that engine away! That… that really shouldn’t be just out in the open.” I also heard Jane’s door open and close, and I couldn’t help but smile at that. I just hoped we could get Solomon back for her. Well, that and help save the universe. That’s also important.

Again, I sat down on the bed, and searched the keyboard for USB port. There wasn’t one.

“Son of a bitch,” I swore, feeling it up, (that’s… an appropriate descriptor of it,) “millions of years of magic technology, and this guy couldn’t even make a keyboard with a USB thingy on it.” 

I tossed the keyboard aside, and searched in the glow of the screens for an actual box for the thing. I pressed my hand against the wall, and felt out the texture of a disc tray, which I accidentally pressed on, and it booped my nose. I shoved it back in with my face, and then discerned the little slots that were the USB ports.

“Bada bing,” I congratulated myself, and slid the stick into place. It was upside down. Of course. Why not. I rolled my eyes, and turned it over. Apparently I was trying to put it in backwards now. This was not productive. I tried again, and finally got it to fit. What idiot designed this technology, anyway?

I went back to the couch, and placed the keyboard on my lap again. Wait… oh, bloody- there was no mouse! How the hell did he use this thing without a mouse? Desperate to get this shit done with, I brought out my guardstaff, and shot out a USB cable that hooked into the box, and pretended like the hilt was a mouse. Surprisingly, it worked. 

I was able to mess around enough to find his desktop, and I opened up the file explorer. I found the several-hundred-yottabyte file, hoped that opening it wouldn’t break any laws of reality, and double-clicked.

Suddenly, the text document opened up, spreading itself across all of the screens and dousing me in white light. “Where’s the brightness on this thing?” I muttered, but began to look for what I came for. 

Except I couldn’t fucking see it. So, I tossed the blankets off, and just sat down beneath the screens, the keyboard between my legs. Everybody having a good time? Listening to me describe in great detail the process of opening up a text file? Sure ya do. It’s vital information. (Fourth wall? No? Okay. No fourth wall.) 

I hit Ctrl+F, and typed the word “sound” into the search bar. Seven billion results came up. Christopher Eccleston’s “narrows it down” from Doctor who rang clear in my mind. I refined the search by adding “guardian of” before it, but then… nothing.

No results for “guardian of sound” appeared, as if they had been… erased. I tried “element of sound” and “stone of sound”, but still nothing appeared. It felt like I was working the x-files in here. 

“Pfff,” I sighed, letting air out from between my lips, and running my hands through my hair. I tried more and more queries, but still nothing appeared. I decided to give up on the search, and just see where the universe would take me. I put the keyboard aside, and poised the mouse over the scroll bar.

“Alright universe,” I told it, “show me the money.” I closed my eyes, and snapped the guardstaff hilt like a whip. I opened my eyes, and the pages had changed, and scrolled randomly to a new place on the document. My eyes settled on a patch on the center screen.

_ “The Elemental Stone of a Guardian is flexible in its attunement to an Element, but will, however, keep some residual connection to their original element, even when destroyed, as Elemental energy cannot be destroyed as per the Law of Elemental Conservation. Elements can either be overwritten or added to a Stone, as evidenced by the Demiguard Stones, (former Sound, modified to Lightning [others?]) and the addition of Sound to the Elemental Stone of the Guardian of Knowledge Chaos.” _

My heart skipped a beat. “Ah, crap.”


	27. Ian- Unlikely Allies

“So, I have good news,” I began to tell the others from Solomon’s door, “and I have bad news. Good news is, I’ve got a lead on a Stone of Sound. Bad news is, it’s Chaos.”

Corn, who had been sipping on coffee, spat his drink out over the Destiny Engine. “It’s motherfucking what?”

Aubrey came out from Jane’s room behind me, and slapped me on the back of the head.

“OW!” I cried, “What the hell was that for?”

“This is going to get us killed, that’s what,” she reasoned.

I stepped out into the living room, and sat down on the couch, carefully wiping the coffee off of the Engine with my sleeves. “Yeaaah,” I admitted, “shit is… basically fucked.”

Corn leaned up against a wall, cleaning the spilt coffee from himself. “So… what’re we going to do, then? I mean, Chaos is dead! We don’t even know where the rest of him  _ is!” _

“Well, supposedly,” I began to elaborate, “Stones keep their elemental powers even after they’re destroyed. So, if we can get all his parts together… maybe we could… do something with them? Aubrey?”

Her eyes were moving a mile a minute, like she was dreaming with her eyes open. Then, they froze, glued to the table like they were magnetized. “Absinthe and Killian know where he is. Once we find the pieces, then maybe we can manage to get something done with them.”

I held my head in my hands. “Fantastic. Now we just need to ask our least favourite people where our least favourite trickster god is buried.”

“We’re not doing this,” Cornelius said, putting his coffee on the table and moving to the kitchen, his back facing us. “I’m not dealing with any of them again.”

“We need to,” Aubrey said, “if we don’t, then the others will be trapped-”

“I KNOW!” he snapped, spinning around, “I just- I don’t want- no!” He turned away again, clutching another cup in his hands.

“Corn,” I said, stepping towards him, “if we don’t do this, then Aj- then Xander’s going to d-”

“SHUT UP!” he snapped, and cracked the ceramic mug against the side of my head. My armour was smart enough to protect me against the shrapnel, but it still hit hard. “I’M NOT HELPING CHAOS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HE MADE ME DO?!”

“DO YOU WANT TO SAVE XANDER OR NOT?!” I shouted back, “WE HAVE TO GET CHAOS TO FIX THIS! IT’S EITHER THAT, OR EVERYONE DIES!”

“I DON’T CARE!” he spat.

“Yes you do,” Aubrey said calmly, “you care more about Xander’s well being than just about anything else. Anything but yourself.”

“You stay out of this,” he said, pointing accusingly at her, but noticeably trembling.

“You’re afraid of the truth,” she accused, “you’re afraid of letting Chaos rule you again.”

“I SAID STAY OUT OF THIS!” he spat again, tears escaping his eyes.

“Corn,” I said to him, “just once, maybe you need to take yourself out of the equation. Maybe you should just stay here and take care of Jane while Aubrey and I-”

“No,” he allowed himself, “no, I- I’ll go. Just don’t make me put up with him.”

“Okay,” I said quietly, “let’s get out of here. Aubrey?”

“I’ll watch Jane,” she agreed, “it will be horrible for the both of us, but, most likely, we’ll survive it.”

I smirked. “Good. Come on, we have a couple more idiots to deal with.” I stuck out my hand to him, and he grasped it firmly.

  
  
  


We walked across the street to the Hell siblings’ house (yes, that is somehow actually their surname, go fucking figure), and knocked on the door. I could tell Corn was holding his guardstaff just in case, his hand awkwardly shoved down his pocket.

The door was pulled backwards, and Absinthe was standing there, dishevelled and topless. Yeah that’s… that’s… comfortable. “What do you- oh. It’s you two.”

“Yup, it sure is,” I said, trying to avoid her gaze. I heard footsteps, and caught Killian walking into sight, equally topless and dishevelled. That was worse.

“What do you assholes want?” he asked, zipping up his pants.

“Guh, I, well, we-” I stuttered.

“Look, I know you’re used to swallowing, but spit it out,” Absinthe chided.

“We know you know where Chaos is buried,” Corn interjected, simmering with rage, “tell us where he is, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“What makes you think we’re going to?” she said snidely.

“Because if you don’t,” Corn added, “everyone in the universe will die.”

“No,” she said, her fingers tracing up his shirt, “your little girlfriend is the one who dies. I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“ _ He’s _ not my girlfriend,” Corn said, fuming, “and you’d better believe that, if he does, then you’re going down with him.”

“Now, why would I do that?” she said, very sure of herself.

He grabbed her hand away, and held it tightly as she squirmed in discomfort. “Because I can rip your soul from your body anytime I want.”

Then, her hand split into a meaty mass, and it melted out of his grasp. “Sure you can, big boy.”

“Listen,” I interjected, “can we all just work together for five minutes, and-”

“Not on your life, fa-” she began, but in an instant, Corn’s knife was at her throat.

“Tell us where he is,” he repeated, “or die.”

She scowled at him. “Where do you think it is?”

“It’s at your school,” Killian gave up, “he’s got a knife to your throat, stop being so difficult.”

Corn pulled the knife away. “You’re coming with us,” he asserted, “and you’re going to find it for us.”

Absinthe rubbed at her throat. “Fine, but we’d better get compensated for your bullshit.”

“We’ll figure that out if we stop the apocalypse, okay?” I offered.

“Sounds reasonable,” Killian said, picking a shirt off of the floor, “Absinthe, mind getting dressed?”

“Why? It’s not like they care about how I look,” she said, side-eyeing us disdainfully, “couple of-”

“Hey, yo, let’s go!” I interjected nervously, “See you both at the UFO!”

  
  
  


“So… which one is it?” I asked. We were now in the school library, which, because Solomon is a perfectionist to an ungodly level, was laid out exactly as the one on our old Earth had been, down to the bent bookshelves weighed down by years of classics.

Absinthe, who had elected to remain topless, tossing books from their shelves and onto the floor. “I know it was something boring,” she exposited, “something old and symbolic.”

“Hesiod’s  _ Works and Days _ ,” Killian said, and pulled a large tome from a shelf, “a collection of Greek myths, ‘containing especially the tale of Pandora’. He has a real pension for theatrics, that one.”

The bookshelf that held it pulled backwards, and revealed a path into the depths, identical to the one we had gone down so long ago.

“Well, see you asshats on the other side!” Absinthe said, and began to walk away.

“We’re helping them,” Killian told her.

She turned and gawked at him. “No, we’re not!”

“If we don’t help save the universe, we’re dead either way,” he informed her, “so you can either go home and finger yourself to anime, or you can actually prove that you’re not a colossal waste of atoms.”

I tried and failed to hold back a snort of laughter. Absinthe huffed and scowled at her brother, but came to his side. She gave him a smack on the back of his head, but agreed to come with us. “If I die, it’s your fault, little shit.”

“I hope so,” he said.

“Alright, crazies,” I said, “let’s get this hoedown good and done.” I stepped forward down the path, and the floor gave out from beneath us like it had before. This time, I was ready. I was going to make it through this. For him.


	28. History- Give Gifts, Give Life

A week had passed. Kage had been buried, and Bracer's message had resounded around the world, even reaching out to some neighbouring worlds. Slowly, the world had begun to turn on the men they called their protectors.

Bracer hung his head over Kage’s grave, ignoring the nighttime rain. It was surreal. He had known Kage for a long time and now… he was gone. He sighed mournfully, and patted the headstone. “See ya later, man.”

He began to walk away, when a voice appeared in his head again. “Maybe sooner than you think.” It had been a while, but he still recognized Omega's silken voice.

“What do you want?” Bracer questioned them.

“This may be hard for you to hear,” they told him, “but… I need you to open that grave.”

Bracer's heart thumped. “I'm not doing that.”

“You need to,” Omega insisted, “it is imperative.” Bracer wanted to ignore them, but then, they added, “You can give him life again.”

He froze. “How?”

“Do as I say,” Omega reiterated, “and I will teach you.”

Bracer clutched his guardstaff in his hand, and, almost unwillingly, a shovel formed from it. He pushed the spade's head into the dirt, and began to dig. For strenuous, stressful and conflicting hours, he toiled at uncovering the grave. 

At last, the casket was visible. He pulled open the top, and there was Kage, lying peacefully, the bullet wound shoddily covered by his shaggy hair, his skin scorched and scarred by his fiery demise.

“Alright,” Bracer began, “what now?”

“Give him the Guardian's gift,” Omega instructed.

“The what?”

“A Stone of the Elements,” they replied, “conjure it from the ether, and give him life.”

“But how?”

“You will know the way.”

Bracer thought on this, and examined his palms, cupping them together. He needed to do this. Suddenly, his hands began to grow warm, and an ethereal glow shone from between his fingers. He opened his hands, and, between them, lay a crystal, mottled black and red, twisted like glass that had been melted and shaped over and over again.

“Shadow and fire,” Omega commented, “a most powerful combination.”

Bracer crouched down, and laid the crystal in the scorched bullet wound. The crystal melted into a glittering liquid, and seeped into the wound and his pores. It vanished beneath Kage's skin, and Bracer stood back, unsure of what would come next.

The body began to shudder, shaking and writhing in the casket. Bracer wobbled as the casket shook beneath him, and held tight to the dirt walls of the put he’d dug.

Then, Kage opened his eyes. There was life there, but not his. Bracer almost wanted to vomit, but something more happened with the body. The distinctive plated armour of a Guardian grew over the burned and scarred skin, covering him entirely. The metal scales split and cracked at the mouth, shaping themselves into vicious, pointed teeth. 

Afraid, Bracer scrambled out of the grave, clawing his way up out of the pit. He looked back down into the grave, Kage was pushing his way out of the casket, screeching and roaring with rage. Then, before Bracer could register it, Kage shot up out of the grave, trailing fire behind himself.

Bracer stumbled backwards, falling into the mud, accidentally falling into someone's gravestone. He pushed himself up, and saw Kage, poised to pounce like an animal, a pair of burning wings protruding from his back, hissing with steam as the rain pelted down on them.

“What are you?” Bracer asked him. Then, Kage shot off into the sky again, flying high and away from him.

“Was that supposed to happen?” he asked Omega.

“It was perfect,” Omega answered, “you have done very well.”

“What was that?” he asked again, “What- what happened to Kage?”

“He was reborn,” they answered, “and shall live eternal. He serves you, now. He will do your bidding if you ask.”

“But-”

“He will be your greatest tool,” Omega interjected, “with him, you will become the greatest leader this universe has ever seen. This is all I will say for now. Have a good night, my child.”

Omega left him, and Bracer quickly remembered that he had left the grave open. So much faster than he had dug it up, Bracer shovelled the dirt back into the hole, managing to cover it cleanly by daybreak. He shuffled away, managing not to be seen, and made a break for Noira's home. Again, the question weighed on his mind: what was this all about? What was it leading up to? And, most importantly, should he tell anyone?


	29. Ajay- Welcome to the (Anarchist) Party

Gordon and I took turns lifting the others to the base of the pillar, dropping them off just at the base of it. Except for Lena. We let her walk. Y’know, for safety reasons, not because we hate her. Each time we got there, we expected the Halfguard to descend and skeletonize us like piranha vultures (I regret thinking of that, just because you know some fucking insane scientist jackass is going to genetically engineer it, and that’s just a fact), but they never came. They just went about their business, twisting and twirling about the pillar, maintaining a general altitude around the lower middle of it. Well, the visible middle, anyways; that thing went farther than I could make out.

I planted Solomon on the ground, and landed, collapsing my wings. I laid back on the ground, staring up to the topless pillar (that’s… a weird descriptor for it).

“That’s… uh… really fuckin’ big,” I commented.

“No shit,” Xander inserted.

“So… how do we get in?” Alex asked. Gordon pointed around the pillar, and I spotted an exceptionally long and exceptionally tall staircase of white stone, that lead up to a gold-laced door at about the visible middle of the pillar. 

“Seems like Chaos,” I commented, “who wants to go first?” Just then, Lena, having finished her trip, kicked me in the ass, and punted me towards the staircase.

“GAH!” I exclaimed, “Stop fucking doing that!”

“When you stop having such a kickable ass, sure,” she said. I pointed at her accusingly, and stepped backwards towards the staircase, but tripped over rock, and fell backwards.

“FUCK!” I shouted as I fell, “I need to start… fuckin’... not doing that.” Alex let out a snort of laughter, but helped me up, anyways.

“You alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, at least it wasn't a concussion, this time,” I said with a smile. Still a bit dazed, I was reminded of how tall she actually was, as in I came about to her tits, which was… at least mildly awkward. “I keep forgetting how tall you are,” I told her with a small laugh as punctuation.

“I keep forgetting how short you are,” she said, smiling back, “you're like, armrest size.” She then proceeded to lay her arm on my scalp.

“Thanks,” I said, somewhat insincerely but still kindly.

“Can you two just fucking quit that shit?” Xander complained, “we have actually important things to be doing.”

Alex stuck her tongue out at him, and Xander tried his best to maintain a straight face, but I could see a smile forming in the corner of his mouth.

“Well, I must agree with Xander, here,” Solomon interjected, “we do have things that we should be doing that are… relevant to the situation at hand.”

“Such as murdering the fuck out of some bitches,” Lena offered.

“I… suppose that is… not incorrect,” Solomon said.

“Alright, let’s get our asses in gear,” Alex said, and made a beeline to the staircase. We trailed behind her, and made the half-hour-long trek up there. Yes, it actually took half an hour. My inevitable death in this realm couldn’t come soon enough. The Halfguard that swarmed the pillar were actually at a decent distance from the circumference of it, so that we could just barely avoid being mauled by them.

I got to the door, leaning up against it in fear that I might pass out if I stood there, and knocked. I could hear loud, rhythmic music being blasted on the other side. “What the hell is he up to in there?” I asked. I slammed on the door again. “HEY, JACKASS!” I yelled, not sure I could even be heard from in there, “LET US IN!”

Lena shoved me aside. “This is how a real bitch does it,” she said, and her arm bulked up to comic proportions. She pulled it backwards, and then unleashed it, propelling it like a bullet through the ornate wooden door, blasting it across the ballroom, and knocking over dozens upon dozens of the patrons.

“Whaddup, fuckers?” she introduced herself, pushing through the empty doorframe. Loud, manic, electronic music pulsed through the air, the dancers taking only momentary notice before resuming their flailing dances.

The hall was just how I had seen it in my dreams, designed with greek aesthetics mixed with baroque elements mixed in. Why do I know this? I don’t know, either, fuck you. Orange-white candles lit the room, combining with the architecture to directly oppose the distinctly modern-sounding music. 

At the opposite end of the room, Chaos, sitting, looking deeply bored with his chin on his knuckles, laying across his oversized throne in his oversized cape. He looked at us, and immediately cheered up. His eyes brightened, and he grinned with genuine cheer. 

“Oh, this is a pleasure! Halfguard, turn down the music! We have some special guests!” He rose from his chair, tarp-cape flowing behind him as he descended the excessively long stairs, and his party of seeming duplicates stopped to observe his procession. Behind him, a trio of similar-looking patrons followed at the end of his cape, one male and two female, each with a similar manic grin as himself, each dressed in clean grey suits with orange kerchiefs in their pockets.

As he stepped down, the music was paused, and he laughed with devilish delight. “Oh, dear me, what little band of misfits do we have here? I see we have the little blue boy, the red one, my brother and… what the hell is wrong with her arm?” He pointed at Lena’s pink arm, and Alex almost had to break it to keep her from sending him through the wall at faster-than-light speeds.

“What do you want with us, br- Chaos?” Solomon said, very clearly conflicted at seeing his brother again.

“I wanted a show,” Chaos answered with a twirl of his cane, “and, let’s be honest, your little boyband has enough crazy in it to keep me on my toes for, what, an hour twenty-eight minutes? Give or take commercials, of course. Now,” he pointed to Xander, “who is that one? I don’t recognize hi. He looks… generally angry and… vaguely familiar.”

Xander scowled at him, red, vitriolic hate building inside him, so much that I could almost hear his muscles tense up at the sight of the madman. “My name,” he said, through gritted teeth, “is Xander.”

Something clicked in Chaos’ head, and his eyes went wide with fascinated glee. “I thought I knew you from somewhere.” Xander was slightly taken aback, confused at how Chaos could still recognize him after all the treatments he had undergone. “Oh, your father is going to be intrigued, to say the least.”

“He’s not my father,” Xander denied.

“Oh, you’ve figured that out now, have you?” he asked, “Or are you just symbolically denying him the right to rule over you as a patriarch?”

Alex pushed between the two of them. “Lay a finger on him,” she threatened, “and I break that little rock in your head.”

Chaos just smiled and laughed. “Oh, that was never my intent, my little stonewall,” he said gleefully, turning around and miraculously avoiding tripping over his own cape, “no, no, no! My intent, boys, girls, and Solomon, is to put! On! A SHOW!” 

Suddenly, there were clanks of metal, and I felt cold metal shackles clasped around my wrists and ankles, and I was pulled up to the wall. One by one, the others fell for the same trap, and were strung tightly up against the walls.

“Oh, son of a bitch,” I said, struggling against the chains, “why the hell didn’t I see this coming?”

“NGH!” Alex grunted, pulling against her chains, “Why is that your reaction?!”

“Because it’s cliched bullshit,” I said, almost bored at this, “well, at least I can rest, now.” 

I could see Lena pulling at her chains beside Alex, and bust through one with her guardstaff arm. Chaos took note of this, and snapped his fingers, bidding her, “Aaand, sleep!” Immediately, she fell unconscious.

“Since when can you do that?” I questioned him. 

Then, he began to lift up through the air, his cape trailing behind him. “When I figured out how to do this,” he answered with a devilish smile. He floated backwards over to his throne, his entire entourage of duplicates trailing behind him. “Being friends with the ruler of the universe has its perks.”

“Oh, please!” Solomon wailed, “I can pull a better leader than him out of a crypt!”

“Ah, but which of us has the cool cape?” Chaos said, putting his finger to his nose.

“I- YOU!” Solomon struggled, pulling against his chains.

“Exactly!” the madman replied. But then, a bored frown formed on his face. “But, if I wanted to be fair, that man is fucking  _ boring. _ Couldn’t even be bothered to create his own slave race. And all this partying, blah, blah, blah, it’s so- monotonous! A man can only take so much EDM before he puts a bullet through his head.”

Solomon grinned. “You hate it here, don’t you?” he gloated.

“I do not!” Chaos snapped, “It’s just- gah! Well, I suppose… oh, nevermind! But, that’s what I have you for! Besides, what’s the point of having opposing factions in the same place if you can’t have them fight to the death!” 

Suddenly, the ballroom warped and changed, becoming a roman coliseum, spreading us all evenly around the circumference. Chaos was now situated above a gate of metal bars, and was holding up a microphone to his mouth.

“Ladies, gentlemen,” he began, “ and alternate universe clones of myself, prepare yourselves for the battle of the century! I present to you, the ultimate power couple!”

Suddenly, Gordon’s chains broke apart, and he fell onto the sandy battlefield. “The last living Guardian of Electricity,” Chaos introduced him, his voice booming across the field, “Gordon W-”

“That’s the wrong element!” Solomon corrected him.

“SHUT UP!” Chaos yelled into the microphone, “the last Guardian of Dumb-bullshit-element of Lightning, Gordon Walker!”

Gordon stumbled to his feet, and held out his guardstaff. The electric poleaxe erupted from the end, and he twirled it around in anticipation.

“And on the  _ winning side _ ,” Chaos said snidely, “we have the  _ very first  _ Guardian of Velocity, GLACIEEES!”

The gate beneath him slid upwards, and a Guardian in mottled blue-white armour, wielding the crossguarded knighthilt in her hand. Then, exploding from the end, another poleaxe.

“Formerly known,” Chaos said, “as  _ Julienne Docter!” _


	30. Alex- The Best Way to Defeat an Enemy

Gordon’s guardstaff almost fell out of his hand, but Glacies didn’t falter. “HRAAAH!” she yelled, dashing towards him with her poleaxe raised. He tried to recover, but she got faster and faster, and collided with him head-on, sending him backwards into the wall.

“Chaos, make them stop,” I pleaded.

“HA!” he laughed, “I can barely hear you, how do you expect me to care?!”

I turned to face Lena, who was already struggling against her chains. “Let ‘im have it,” I told her. Her guardstaff arm grew, and broke free of the shackles.

“Eh, erm, uh, someone do something about her!” Chaos floundered. Lena lashed out with her arm, but all of spun around the circumference of the arena, sliding on the wall into Chaos’ own personal spectator’s box. “NOT LIKE THAT!” he rescinded, “SOMEBODY KNOCK HER OUT! PREFERABLY WITH A GUN!”

Lena shot her arm out at him, but, like the absurd cartoon character her was, Chaos bent out of her way, and one of his duplicates came in and whacked her over the head with a frying pan.

“Thank you, Cataclysm,” he thanked him, still hyperventilating.

“‘Cataclysm?’” Ajay questioned him.

“Yes,” Chaos answered, sitting up properly now, “that’s what I named him.”

“You- you  _ named _ your clones?” he critiqued the madman.

“Yes, of course,” Chaos said as if it were entirely rational and sensical, “he’s Cataclysm, she’s Catastrophe,” he indicated one of his female replicas, “and she’s Calamity.”

“I’m Calamity,” the other corrected him.

“Well, you’re Catastrophe now, shut up,” Chaos dismissed her. He looked out at the battlefield, and saw that, instead of fighting her, Gordon had taken to the air to avoid her. She tried to shoot at him with all manner of projectiles, but he was able to swerve out of the way. He didn’t want to hurt her over anything else.

“COME DOWN!” she screamed at him, but he just flapped his wings and tried his best to avoid her assault.

“Yes, I agree,” Chaos commented, “fucking DO SOMETHING! Gah, why are child soldiers so difficult?” He slumped back in his chair, and frowned like a dissatisfied emperor. “Halfguard, play some music, this is getting boring.”

The walls of the coliseum split open, and revealed bands comprised entirely of Halfguard carrying instruments ill-suited for their murderous nature. Trombones began to build and crescendo, and drums rolled.

“Alright, Gordon,” Glacies said, “if you’re not coming down, I’m coming up.” Then, like a bolt of lighting, she shot up from the ground, crashing into him and sending him sprawling into the walls.

Chaos cackled in glee at this development. “That’s more like it!” he praised her, “Destroy him!”

Solomon growled, and scowled at his brother, who turned to look back at him. “What the hell are you so mad about?” Solomon’s eyebrows came closer together than ever before. “What’s that? What- what the hell is that face?”

“That’s his angry dad face,” I told him smugly, “usually fatal in high doses.”

“Why should I? I’m immortal,” he said, almost with an air of disappointment.

“Not by my count,” Xander inserted.

Chaos turned to face him now. “What the hell are you on about?”

Xander chuckled. “In my dimension, I broke you into pebbles like the little shit you are.”

“That’s… very poorly worded,” Chaos critiqued him.

“Can confirm,” I colluded, “you were like, suuuper dead.”

Chaos grumbled and sputtered, and then pointed accusingly at me. “Shush! I am watching my things!”

Gordon fell down from the wall, and Julienne landed just feet in front of him. “Gordon, we don’t need to do this. Come with me. We can help this universe. We can save people!”

He pushed himself up, uneasy on his feet. He extended his poleaxe, but didn’t strike at her. He shook his head, and took a step backwards, pressing himself against the wall.

She sighed. “If I have to beat some sense into you, then I will.” She raised her weapon and brought it down on top of him. He held up his own, weakly deflecting the blow.

“Just stop it!” she commanded, “Just stop! You can’t fight us! Gordon, I don’t want to lose you again!”

Weakly, he signed something to her. “Because I was angry! Because I didn’t think it could really be you! Gordon, please!”

“KILL HIM!” Chaos urged her, “THIS IS GETTING BORING! Ugh, can you believe these people, no conviction! Honestly!”

“Julienne,” Solomon attempted, “please don’t do this. You’re just going to-” One of the duplicates, Calamity, I think, covered Solomon’s mouth with her hand.

“Thank you!” Chaos exclaimed, “now, GET TO THE MURDER!”

This time, Gordon struck out. He swung his axe at her, and she shoved it aside. He came back again and again, attacking more to fend her off than to defeat her. He forced her into the center of the arena, but she didn’t fight back. Finally, he paused, and she raised her own axe, and sent his flying out of his hand, the head embedding itself in the wall before disintegrating. He 

“Gordon, please,” she pleaded, still holding her weapon at the ready, “I haven’t seen you in so long. I saw you die. I love you. Don’t make me do this.”

“DO IT!” Chaos interjected, “Cor, this is getting lamer by the fucking second!”

Julienne looked him in the eyes, staring deep down inside of him, and extended a hand. “What do you say? Want to come with?”

Gordon turned, and looked at us all in turn. Then, he made a choice. His armour peeled off of his head, and his ocean blue eyes gazed at hers. He reached out, and took her hand. They pulled each other closer, and held the other in their embrace.

“Thank you,” she told him, her voice cracking under the strain, “thank you.”

“What? WHAT?!” Chaos yelled, shooting up from his throne, “You can’t be FRIENDS! This was supposed to tear you apart both physically and emotionally! There wasn’t supposed to be a  _ peaceful resolution!  _ This is an OUTRAGE!”

“Do you wanna do it, or should I?” Julienne asked. Gordon escaped her grip, and pulled his hand back, and then forced it forward, sending a powerful bolt of lightning towards Chaos, shattering his throne to bits and sending him to the wall, colliding with Solomon.

“GAH!” they both exclaimed. Chaos got up, and shook the rubble off of his cloak. “So, that’s how it’s going to be, is it? Fine. Clones, KILL THEM!”

The band swelled, and droves of Chaos’ duplicates piled down from their seats into the arena. Lightning flashed, and bodies froze in the air before being propelled into the walls. They were fighting side by side, blasting their enemies into smithereens. I would say it was beautiful, but it was terrifying. Two incredible lovers, fighting off hordes of the deadliest man to ever exist. We were in deep shit.

“IDIOTS!” Chaos decried, “IMBECILES!”

Behind him, Solomon laughed. “Oh, how the tables turn, brother. The ultimate contrarian, caught between two sides of a war. It must be  _ unbearable!” _

Chaos turned and scowled at him. “Don’t test me!”

“So, Chaos,” Solomon said with a confident smile, “what the hell are you going to do now? Pick a side, or hope the coin lands on its rim?”

Furious, Chaos had only one choice left. “Cataclysm, unlock them.”

The servant looked at him, confused. “I’m sorry, did you say-?”

“Unlock them, imbecile,” Chaos said begrudgingly, staring Solomon in the face as he grinned madly, “I’ve been a part of this machine for too long, I’ve become… eugh,  _ stagnant.” _

Cataclysm went around and unlocked our shackles. I landed safely on Chaos’ cape, which still filled up the floor. 

“Everyone, jump for a moment,” Chaos said, grimacing, “I need to pull my cape out.” I lifted Lena into my arms, and jumped as Chaos pulled his massive cape aside, revealing a trapdoor where his throne had once been. “Follow down the trail, and you’ll find yourself in the colony. Keep going in from there, and you’ll hit Dark Omega’s temple in a day or so.”

Cataclysm pulled the trapdoor up, and bowed for us. “Now, get out of here,” Chaos said, pulling his cape around himself like a vengeful snuggie, “I don’t want people thinking I’m with the  _ good guys  _ now. Ugh.”

Solomon wiggled his eyebrows, and grinned at his brother triumphantly, and stepped down the trapdoor. Ajay was next. “See you around, fuckhead.” 

Xander came up, and prodded Chaos in the chest. “Don’t think we’re friends, numbnuts.”

“Wouldn’t  _ dream  _ of it,” he said, rolling his eyes. Xander left through the trapdoor, and then it was my turn.

“Uh,” I said, realizing that I still had Lena in my arms, “I think we could’ve ordered this a bit better.”

Then, I felt a pair of hands pressed against my back, as one of the duplicates just straight up shoved us both into the pit, and we fell down on top of everyone beneath us. There were cries of discomfort and pain as we settled at the bottom of the tunnel.

“SON OF A BITCH!” Ajay especially yelled.

“Sorry!” I apologized, also in pain.

“See! I’m still evil!” Chaos insisted.

“Shut up!” Ajay yelled back at him. I somehow heard Chaos blow a raspberry over the ruckus up there, and he shut the door, leaving us in silence and darkness.

“So…” I said, “which way is up?”

“Maybe we can find out if we spit,” Xander suggested, “like with an avalanche. I’ll go first.” He spat, and Solomon cried out.

“That was my eye!”

“I found up.”

“That’s not up!”

“Maybe not, but it felt good.”

Lena stirred awake on top of me, and her arm shone to life. “Who the fuck-”

“Now is not the time,” I told her.

Slowly but surely, we untangled, with only minimal punching. Now, we just needed to find where the hell this ‘colony’ was. Or where ‘out’ was.


	31. History- What's Done Is Done

Eombra was spending another night alone in her apartment. She hadn’t entered her son’s room since before he had left. She had been eating better, yes, and taking care of herself a tad more, but she had refused to forgive herself. She had pushed away her son, and that was what truly allowed him to do great things like she had openly hoped but secretly feared. She had weighed him down, she thought, and now the weight was crushing her in his place.

The television played a news channel, the scroll of new events at the bottom displaying a series of mixed messages in more sense than one.

“Young Revolutionary Guardian Ombracion Withers Rises To Congressman Status, Sets Sights Against Fire Monarchy And Guardian Freedom Laws”

“Strings Of Anti-Guardian Violence Spread Through Lattertime Worlds, Draw Ire Of Politicians Of Lattertime, Foretime”

“Guardians Vanishing, Anti-Guardian Groups Claim Not To Be Responsible For Disappearances”

“Congressman Erects Women’s Shelters In Honour Of His Mother, Says ‘No One Will Have To Suffer Like She Did Again’”

She continued to gaze at the screen, dead-eyed and tired, seeing fleeting glimpses of her son displayed as the newscaster talked over them. She sighed, and bit sadly into a piece of limp bacon, drenched in cold grease from a pan she had been working away at over the past few days.

Then, a knock on the door. She turned her head towards it, and heard a beleaguered, whispered argument.

“Do we really need to do this?”

“Yes, she is your  _ mother,  _ you haven’t seen her in  _ months!” _

“There’s a reason for that.”

“Bracer,  _ please.  _ Do it for me, at least.”

A sigh. “Fine.”

The door was knocked upon again, and this time Eombra rushed to answer it. She almost pulled it from its hinges with her speed, and saw her son, Bracer, and his girlfriend, Noira, beside him.

Bracer stared down at her. He was wearing a clean, black suit, looking far taller than she had left him. Noira, in contrast, was dressed in a leather jacket on top of a tight black dress. Neither Eombra nor her son were sure how to approach this, so Noira broke the tension.

“Hi,” she greeted her, extending a friendly hand, “I’m Noira, Noira Bridges. Your son’s told me a lot about you.”

“I’m sure he has,” Eombra said, cautiously taking her hand, “come in.”

Eombra shoved refuse and clothes aside, making a path to the couch. Noira sat down beside her, but Bracer chose to stand in the middle of the room between the door and the coffee table.

“So…” Noira began, “how have you… been doing?”

“Fine,” Eombra faked, pretending she wasn’t on the edge of wasting away, “I’m… fine.”

There was a long quiet. Nobody was sure where to go with this. “So… how’s your job?” Noira asked.

“I… don’t have one,” she answered, “I’m living on my savings.”

“Alright, alright, cool,” Noira said, nodding, “how’s that-”

“This is pointless,” Bracer interjected, “why are we even here?”

“Bracer,” Noira chided her partner, “please. I just wanted to-”

“No,” he stopped her, “she threw me out. I don’t owe you anything else.”

“Bracer, please,” Eombra said, standing up and moving towards him, “I have regretted that ever since I did it. I was angry, I was confused, I-I just-”

“What’s done is done,” Bracer said angrily, “you said what you meant. I’ve opened shelters, I’ve fought back against Guardians, and I’ve made sure that bastard isn’t going to hurt anyone else ever again. You’re welcome.”

He strode to the door, and pulled it open. “Noira, we’re leaving.”

“Bracer-” she began.

“We’re. Leaving.” He beckoned for her, and she stood up.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Eombra. Eombra nodded, and stroked her hand as she left. The door closed, and she was alone in the dark. Again. Forever.


	32. Ian- Zeebo's Maze

I fell down, down, down through the tunnel, and landed flat on my face. “SHIT!” I exclaimed, and rolled over. I was facing upwards, now, looking up into a black, endless sky. Great. Fantastic. Love it. I sat up, and was immediately startled by several hundred duplicates of myself sitting right in front of me.

“GAH!” I cried, and stumbled upwards, each of the duplicates scattering and stumbling up with me. I quickly realized that I was caught in a hall of mirrors, each one reflecting the other, and so on into infinity. “Son of a bitch,” I swore, “I feel like Arnold Perlstein in here. Why can’t Solomon just use a normal lock for something, for once?”

I stepped cautiously forward, but smacked my face into one of the mirrors. Of course. I stepped back, but realized I had backed myself into another mirror. I turned left, and another mirror, right, another. I was trapped in a box of mirrors.

“Oh, come on!” I complained, “Give me a fucking break with this shit! Fine, if you’re not going to play nice,” I drew my guardstaff, “then neither am I.” I slashed my blade, but discovered that, instead of a mirror, I had cut through my reflection.

“What the hell-” I muttered, and saw my reflection, standing there, bleeding, sliced by my own blade. I faltered, and my blade broke apart. My reflection fell to the floor, and began to choke on his- my- its blood. I covered my mouth, not sure if I wanted to scream, vomit, or both.

“This is- this can’t-” I stuttered, and then walked backwards into the mirror again, but, again, it wasn’t a mirror. I turned around, and saw myself there, eyes shut, trembling in fear.

“What is this?” I asked it, and it opened its eyes. Instead of alien black or ghastly white, the eyes had been bled orange all the way through.

“Please don’t do this,” it pleaded with me, taking me by the shoulders, “please, it’s only going to hurt.”

I pushed it off of me, and declared, “I know. But it needs to be done.”

“You don’t understand what you’re doing!” it insisted, “Chaos will tear you apart!”

“Chaos is dead!” I yelled at it.

“He doesn’t need to be alive to break you,” it said, “all he needs is one touch. One touch and he’s-” The reflection shattered like glass, and lay in pieces on the floor.

The mirrors returned around me, but now, instead of reflecting, they showed different, monstrous versions of myself. Grinning and displaying those same orange eyes, they seemed to laugh quietly, building to a quiet roar of madness. 

“Stop it!” I said, lashing out at one of the reflections, who fell down to the floor, but continued to laugh. “Just get me out of here!” I demanded, “Just let me save them!”

The reflection just laughed and laughed, taunting me as it cracked and shattered into dust on the floor. Then, they all vanished. The silence became deafening, and the ringing in my ears struck me like a bag of bricks. I fell to the floor, covering my ears to no avail, and curled in on myself, waiting for it all to stop.

Then, a single footstep echoed in the darkness.

“Ian,” a voice said, “I will not warn you again. These tasks are meant to test you. Chaos’ remains must be kept safe. If the situation truly requires it, then you will be able to make it through this. I trust you.”

I looked up, and saw Solomon looking down upon me, a look of accepting sorrow on his face. “If you need to do this, then you can.”

He outstretched his hand, and helped me up. But, like the other reflections, he began to shatter and vanish into dust, an unfeelable gust wind blowing the it into the void. I turned my head, and the maze of mirrors formed again, this time with just normal reflections. I stepped forwards, and actually made some progress.

I managed to turn a corner, and spotted something that wasn’t my own reflection out of the corner of my eye. I caught a glimpse of Corn, reflected at the end of a hallway, twisting frantically, trying to see something that wasn’t there.

“WHERE ARE YOU!” he yelled, “COME BACK AND FIGHT ME, COWARD!” His pitchfork was extended, and he was whipping it around as if to spear an animal.

“Corn!” I called out for him. He turned, trying to find me now, but couldn’t see me. I stepped forwards, walking towards the reflection, but discovered that, instead of coming to a corner, the hall ended, and I was pressed up against a pane of glass.

“Guess this thing has one-way mirrors, then, huh?” I remarked, and raised my scimitar again. I brought the blade down, and cracked the glass. Corn finally realized I was there, and crunched over the glass towards me.

“Any idea what the hell this all is?” he asked.

“No fucking clue,” I told him, “it’s probably symbolic. Come on, we need to find the Hells, and then we can find the door.”

“Do we really need to?” he grumbled.

“Yes!” I told him.

“Why?”

“... I… don’t know,” I admitted, “in hindsight, I probably should have left them in the library.”

“No shit,” he said.

“We still need to find them, though,” I told him.

“Again, why?”

“Gsh- fuh- shut up! I’m trying to be a nice person here, and you’re making it very difficult! Now come on!” I stepped past him, and continued to navigate the halls of the maze. At every turn, I became even less sure what was a real path or not, and occasionally had to cut my way through a wall of glass. Eventually, it was sound that tipped me off as to their whereabouts. I really wish it hadn’t been.

A quiet moaning could be heard in the silence, and I wanted to run my sword through my ears.

“Those two are just…” I began.

“Yup,” Corn cut me off, “you want to break them up, or should I?”

“Yeah, maybe we should just-” I said, but, again, Corn interrupted me.

“That’s you first, then,” he said, shoving me forwards.

“Guh- why me?” I questioned him.

“Because it was your idea to bring these fuckers in the first place!” he yelled quietly, “Now get in there and poke the bears!”

“Alriiight,” I groaned, and stepped towards the sound, blade still at the ready. The moaning got louder and louder, and very much wanted to just carve my eyes from my head as I turned the last corner.

The pair of them were, thankfully, not doing anything with each other, but, rather, each other’s reflections, which was somehow simultaneously better and worse. Thankfully, not much can be accomplished by humping a mirror, but I still required a heavy dose of bleach to my eyes, ears, and brain.

“Hey, uh guys?” I said, gulping, “Can we, uh, wrap this up?”

Absinthe pulled away from her mirror brother. “Just a minute.”

Killian did the same. “Be right with you.”

“Just come on!” Corn said, and grabbed the pair of them, dragging them away from the mirrors. “Which way to the mirrors, white boy?”

“Why are you calling me a white boy?” I asked, “I mean, you’re-”

“Shut up!” he said, “You’re worse than Aubrey, dammit!”

“Okay, okay! Follow me, and hope I know what the hell I’m doing.” I went back around the corner, following my instincts to the exit. If the universe wanted to actually help me for once, this would be the time.

Our pace became faster and more brisk as we approached the door, our feet clapping against the immaterial floor, and I finally came up to the door.

“Please let this be the actual one,” I hoped, and placed my hands on the wooden construct. Yup. That’s a door. I pulled at the handles, and flung the doors open.

“Alrighty,” I said, “time for more of this bullshit. Let’s do this.” I stepped forwards, and was thrust into the next trial. I didn’t miss this experience, let me tell you.


	33. Magmortarus- Kill It If You Have To

Tecta and I arrived at Chaos’ pillar. Curiously, the Halfguard swarm was no longer there. It had been dispersed.

“What the hell has he done now?” I asked.

“Beats me,” Tecta answered, “Glacies just said he was pulling some shit on her. Did we really need to bring Pherosa for this?” Before her, the coffin that contained Pherosa was hovering in midair, held in place by elemental trickery and magnets or some bullshit.

“If Chaos is stirring the shitstorm,” I answered, “we’re gonna need her. I’ll fly up, you just get her as fast as you can.”

“Race ya?” she taunted. Despite everything, she still had her sense of humour.

I smiled slightly. “Only if you’re willing to lose.” I extended my wings, and soared upwards with only a single motion, and landed at the top. The door had been broken down, and I could see that ‘Chaos’ was definitely the best word for what happened in there.

Chaos’ duplicates were either lying on the floor, squirming in pain, floating frozen in midair, or crystallized on the ground. Glacies and another were standing in the middle of the frenzy, clearly exhausted and tired.

“What’s going on here?” I asked them.

They both turned to face me, and I recognized the other in blue.

“Gordon?” I asked, “But you’re-”

“He’s from one of the other worlds,” Glacies answered, “he’s on our team, now.”

“That’s good,” I replied, and shook his hand, “glad to have you back on the team.”

He looked deeply uncomfortable as we shook, but didn’t object. I pulled away, and turned to face Chaos in his little box.

“So,” I said, scowling at the lump of cloth that disguised him, “ _ Chaos,  _ what were you trying to do here?”

“I’m not here!” he said, “This is a hologram! Leave a message at the-” I flapped my wings again, and landed in his box, unsettling his cape, and revealing him, cowering in the rubble. “- Beep?”

I grabbed him by the throat, and held him up. “There were Guardians here. Where did they go?”

He stammered and pointed frantically, trying to avoid the question. “Well, you see, they, uh, erm, have you ever tried fondue? It’s really lovely with-” I gripped him harder, and threw him into the wall.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” I demanded. 

He rubbed his head, and shrugged aside some rubble. “You’re not very observant are you?”

I picked him up again, and threw him down into the arena. I jumped down, and landed on his chest. “Where are the Guardians?”

“You have a very one track mind,” he commented.

I brought my foot down on his face, crushing his fake head over and over again. I pulled back, and his face was unblemished, like the animators couldn’t be bothered to draw him off-model. “Are you quite finished?”

I kicked him in the face again. “I am now.”

I stepped off of him, and he stepped to his feet, and brushed the dust off of his suit. “So, give me a good reason to tell you where they are.”

“Because you like to make sure people are dead,” I told him.

“Nooo, that’s a character trait, not a motivation,” he corrected me.

“Then maybe because we can kill you whenever we like.”

He laughed. “Ha! Preposterous, what in the world could-”

Footsteps approached from the outside. Tecta came rushing in, having run up the whole stairway, with Pherosa’s coffin in front of her. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, huffing, “I’d say traffic was murder, but it’s like the streets of North Korea out there.”

“Tecta, let her out,” I commanded.

She looked at me in shock. “Are you sure? I mean, we don’t even know if she’ll-”

“Let her out,” I repeated. 

She looked me in the eyes, and nodded. “Everyone, behind the coffin.”

We all crowded behind the box. Chaos made an attempt, but I extended my blade and forced him back. “Not you.”

He cowered, and scuttled back into the center of the arena.

“Open it just a crack,” I told Tecta, “don’t want to let her escape.”

Tecta stepped forwards with the box, angling it forward to face Chaos. “This is gonna hurt her a lot more than it’s gonna hurt you, buddy.” The coffin door creaked open, and suddenly the room was filled with swirling darkness, erupting from the tiny crack that had opened. The wind howled with screams of rage and pain, lashing out and enveloping the bodies that lay on the floor.

The screams that escaped from the box were amplified by the cries of Chaos’ underlings as they, for the first time in each of their lives, felt true, mortal pain.

I saw Tecta cringe away from it, unwilling to let the box stay open. “Do we need to-” she began, but I cut her off.

“Not yet,” I told her, “just wait until he can’t feel it anymore.” Chaos screamed and wailed over the rush of air, and I heard him fall flat on his face.

“Now?” Tecta asked.

“Another moment,” I told her.

“PLEASE! PLEASE!” Chaos cried, “END THIS! PLEASE! I’LL TELL YOU WHERE THEY ARE! JUST MAKE IT STOP!”

I sneered. “Close it.” Tecta shut the box, and the shadowy wind dissipated into smoke that clung to the ceiling. She angled the box back down, and nodded.

I crossed the divide, kicking cracked crystals and battered bodies aside. I lifted Chaos up to my eye level. He was more pale and pitiful than I had seen him before. “Where are they?”

“Th-the colonies,” he answered, trembling with fear, “th-they’re headed to the c-core. They- they left through a tr-trapdoor, just up there.”

I tossed him aside. “Glacies, Gordon, you go take Pherosa back to base, Tecta and I are going after the Guardians.”

Glacies nodded. “Right away, sir.” She came up behind the coffin, and pushed it out of the arena. I watched as she and Gordon left, but, as he left, Gordon’s eyes momentarily met mine.

I paid it no mind, and walked up the stairway with Tecta behind me. I cleared the rubble, and discovered the trapdoor. “There you are.” I pulled it open, and gazed down into the darkness.

“How far do you think they’ve gotten?” Tecta asked.

“Just enough that it’ll be inconvenient,” I said, “come on.” I stepped down the ladder, and added, “And leave myself to me.”

“Not a problem.”


	34. Ajay- Black Panther Reference Goes Here

We navigated our way out of the dark, following a minuscule light at the end of the tunnel. The death metaphors were really just piling up in here, weren’t they? At the end of the tunnel, we came out onto a cliff face, looking down on what seemed to be a village. 

Huts made of grass and reeds had been erected on a large, flat plane, and I could see people milling about, huddling by fires or tending to crops.

“So,” I said, standing at the edge, “this must be the colony I’ve heard so much about.”

“Incredible,” Solomon said, peeking over my shoulder, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this species before. Look at that… natural blue-grey skin! On a humanoid! Ha!”

“Greeeat,” I said, “I don’t care.”

“Dude, it's  _ aliens!”  _ Alex insisted, “How rad is this?”

_ “We’re  _ aliens!” I reminded her.

“Shush,” she told me, “you're going to scare off the aliens.”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, let's just get down there and get through this place.” I lowered myself down the cliff, and crawled awkwardly down. Wait… oh, son of a bitch, why the hell am I doing this, I can fly! I extended my wings instead, and spun in the air to properly orient myself. I came down, and landed in the middle of what looked like a marketplace, and all the colonists stared at me in fear. 

I looked around at them, dressed in loincloths with frizzy white hair on blue skin, all terrified for their lives. They put down grocery melons, and made a distant circle around me.

“Uh, okay,” I said, “hi?”

They either became petrified or bowed down before me.

I looked back, and saw the others rappelling down the side of the cliff. Okay, guess I gotta do this one on my own. “So, uh, which way to the core?”

An elderly woman(?) with a square jaw stepped forward, leaning on a cane. “What do you want, butcher?”

“Uuh, I just-” I began, but she cut me off.

“Have you come to take more lives? Steal more of our crops to feed your glutton of a master? Or are you just here to frighten us again?”

“I just wanted to get-”

“You're not welcome here!” she yelled, and raised her cane against me. She brought it down, and smacked at me feebly.

“Ow, hey! Fuck- fucking stop!” I said, trying to block the attacks with my arms, “Honest to Alpha, I have no fucking clue what you're- ow!- talking about!”

Suddenly, she ceased her onslaught. “Why do you use Alpha’s name?”

I paused. “You know about Alpha?”

“The first creator,” she answered, “slaughtered and replaced by the monster who destroyed our universe.” She squinted at me, staring at me up and down. “You are not the man you look like, are you?”

“Uhh, if you’re talking, like, that Magmortarus guy, I don’t think so,” I answered.

Her expression neutralized. “Then you are welcome here, friend.”

Just then, the others came rushing in behind us, Solomon leading the pack. “Ajay,” he began, “is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re cool,” I said to him, then turned to the old woman, “they’re with me.”

Solomon stepped forwards, and shook the old woman’s hand vigorously. “Hello, I am Aharon Solomon, Guardian of Knowledge, it is a  _ pleasure _ to meet you, aaand you probably don’t even speak english.”

“I don’t know about english,” she replied, “but I sure as hell know what words are. I’m Noelani.”

Solomon grinned and shook with incredible glee. “Oh, this is amazing! You have to show me everything here! What’s your economy like? What gods do you worship? How’re your education programs here?”

She looked at him, confused. “I don’t know those words. But, if you want, we have some free shelters. There’s been enough  _ murders  _ as of late that we have some empty spots.”

Solomon looked at her quizzically. “I beg your pardon?”

She grimaced. “There is much to tell you, old Guardian.”

  
  
  


We gathered in a tent together, (sans Lena and Alex, who were fighting for control of her arm in another hut,) and Noelani explained the situation of the colony to us. When Dark Omega took over the universe, everything got scrunched up into a little ball, and their little tribe had been saved from destruction by complete happenstance.

When the dimensions collided, happenstance saved them again. But, eventually, fate turned against them. Once they were discovered by Dark Omega and his Knights, they were exploited; their crops harvested and stolen to fuel Dark Omega and his lackeys, their people killed for sport, and their government revoked, in favour of the cultish following of their new shadowy overlord.

“So,” she finished, wringing her hands over a flame in the middle of the tent, “is there anything else you wish to know?”

“I have one,” I piped up, “what… what happened with Magmortarus?”

She hung her head. “From slips of the tongue, and how he holds his head, I understand that, once upon a time, he lost a good friend. I can always tell that he has suffered, those wings would block out the suns if they still shone.”

“W-wings?” I asked, “What’s with wings?”

“For a Guardian,” Solomon said, “wings are a symbol of loss. The more painful or greater the loss, the greater the wings will become. As an aside, it is  _ incredible _ how much similarity there is between your culture and ours, it is absolutely  _ astonishing!”  _

I took this in for just a second, and it clicked in my head where things went wrong in this world. “The volcano,” slipped out of my mouth.

“What’s between here and the Core?” Xander asked, “I want to get to my dad as fast as I can.”

She looked him in the eyes, and realized something. “He is… your father?”

“I guess,” he answered, “fuckin’ wish he wasn’t.”

She shook her head. “Oh, my child, you will… there is something else along the way, yes, but I think… I think you need to discover it for yourself.”

Xander grumbled, but accepted it.

Then, the outside of the tent rippled in the wind, and torches flickered outside. The sounds of a whirlwind flew through the colony, and we all stood up, already on the defensive.

“What the hell was-” I began, but Alex burst into the tent, an unconscious Lena slung over her shoulder as usual.

“Guys,” she said, “bad news. We got doppelgangers on our asses.”


	35. Alex- Some Kind of Suicide Squad

“Okay, everyone go,” Ajay said, “I think I can take care of Magmortarus this time.”

“It’s not just Magmortarus, my dude,” I warned him, “it’s this Tecta chick, too. I got like, visions of her way back… wait, that was like, just yesterday. Fuck, dude, time’s real weird here, innit?”

“We need to get out of here,” Solomon said, “I’m sorry, but we might just have to leave your people behind.”

“It’s fine,” Noelani said, “we’re used to being abandoned and slaughtered by murderous demigods.”

“Ajay and I can fight them off,” I volunteered, “you guys just need to get out of here, and do as much damage to the bad guys as you can.”

“Alex, I cannot condone-” Solomon began, but Xander cut him off.

“Let’s skip town, fuckers,” he volunteered, taking Lena and shoving her on Solomon, “ain’t got no time for these motherfuckers’ shit.”

“I-”

“Let’s  _ go,”  _ he insisted. He pushed his way out of the tent, and Solomon followed behind him.

“Alright,” I said, taking out my guardstaff, “guess it’s time for a good old-fashioned slugfest.”

I summoned my pistol. “Darn tootin’.”

  
  
  


We left the tent, and hurried into the market square, and saw, at the other end of the town, Magmortarus and Tecta, pushing the colonists aside.

“WHERE ARE THE GUARDIANS?!” Magmortarus called out, brandishing his massive blade, “I KNOW YOU’RE HIDING THEM, COWARDS!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say  _ hiding,”  _ I said, waving my gun around in the air, “maybe harbouring, but I don’t think this really counts as  _ hiding.” _

Tecta froze as she saw me. “Maggie,” she said, “Maggie that’s-”

“I know,” he said, not batting an eyelash, “you should be fine with it by now. You’ve killed her enough already.”

Then, Tecta’s helmet pulled back. It was my face. “Maggie, please-!”

“Don’t call me Maggie,” he reprimanded her, “and besides, it’ll do you some good. It’s therapeutic.”

“Uhhh,” I stammered, “is that- is that me?”

“Yup,” Ajay answered, “you get used to it after seeing yourself die at your own hands, like, a few hundred times in a fucking row.”

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Not really,” he said, “but I have a sword, so, I guess that’s good enough for now.”

“Alright, Guardians,” Magmortarus said commandingly, “just turn yourselves and your friends in, and we spare the civilians. Well, for today at least.”

“Oh yeah? Or what?” Ajay attempted.

“Dude,” I said to him, “that was… just so, so fucking lame.”

“We are in an actual fight, it’s not the time for quippy one-liners!” he shot at me.

“It is the exact time for quippy one liners,” I said, “like how I’m about to completely kill my- actually, that… that might not be the joke to make here.”

“Great,” Ajay said, “now, take your gun, and  _ fucking shoot it!” _

I cocked my gun, and looked back up to see Tecta wielding a cannon a good twelve times the size of my own. I felt… inadequate.

“You have three seconds to stand down!” Magmortarus threatened, “Comply, and you’ll die in as little pain as you want. Three…”

“We’re doomed,” I said.

“Two…!”

“Uh, yup,” he replied.

“ONE! NOW!” At his command, Tecta fired off a blast of brown-grey smoking energy from the barrel of her weapon, hurtling towards me. I forgot my pistol, and brought up a barrier of stone to block it, which cracked as it collided. Ajay rushed towards Magmortarus, both screaming and raising their blades.

“RAAAH!” they both cried, and struck at each other which equally powerful slashes of their swords. Again and again they raised their weapons, coming down to strike ineffectively at each other. Magmortarus was stronger, but Ajay had a bit of a better grasp on how to block his twin’s titanic blade.

Tecta fired another blast, and my protection came crumbling down. I readied a hammer, and came rushing at her. “COME ON!” I shouted, my weapon skirting the ground as I ran. She made a hammer. It was bigger. I really, really need to think things through a bit better in the future. “On second thought-!” I said, and turned to run away.

She kept coming, screaming with rage. I brought up a barrier behind me, but I could feel as it vibrated and shattered apart as she came towards me. Another and another I erected, but they kept falling before her. “Oh, come on!” 

Eventually, she caught up to me, and swung her hammer, crashing into me and sending me flying into a tent. Luckily, my armour saved me, but I couldn’t say the same for the tent. Tecta came up to me, and aimed a gun at my head.

“Anything left to say, kiddo?” she asked, grimacing. She looked almost afraid to do this.

“Just a question,” I answered, wiping my face of detritus and blood, “what do you mean when you say you’ve done this before?”

Her grip on the weapon loosened. “I mean I’ve killed myself before,” she answered, mercifully, “we all have. To survive, we all had to kill any versions of ourselves that survived. We just happened to be the winners.”

She put on a brave face, and readied her weapon again. I could hear it charging. It didn’t need to do that. She was biding her time.

“Do you really want to do it again?” I asked, trying to delay the inevitable.

The gun in her hand cracked like glass, but didn’t break apart. “I- I-!”

“It’s okay,” I told her, “I know you’re strong. You can do this. It’s not like there aren’t another twenty of me waiting in the wings, anyways.”

She clenched the trigger, and fired. But… she missed. The tent beside me was exploded into shreds, and its cloth was scattered about the air. The gun had broken.

“Not again,” she said, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, “I’m not doing this again. Get out of here. I can take care of Magmortarus, just get to the Core, and get rid of Dark Omega. If he succeeds with this, everyone in every universe is going to die.”

I looked over to Ajay and Maggie fighting, neither of them seeming to have made any progress against the other. 

“They’re… not very creative with their fighting, are they?” I asked.

“Nope,” Tecta responded. She outstretched her arm, and I felt the earth beneath us begin to shake. Louder and louder it rumbled, until everyone in the vicinity became off-balanced. Still trying to kill each other, they were suddenly struck by the seismic waves. Magmortarus fell backwards into a cluster of rocks, apparently knocking him out, but I extended my powers to catch Ajay with a slab of rocks, protecting him from the fall just so.

“Take Ajay and go,” she told me, “all you need to do is pass through the graveyard, and the Core will be right there.”

“Thanks,” I said, “and can I just say that whoever designed this place with everything so close is a blessing?”

“That was Chaos,” she responded.

“Nevermind,” I rebuked, “hey, see you in the mirror later, huh?”

She gripped my hand. “Sounds good to me.”

I nodded. “Ajay, come on! Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”

“But he’s- he’s right there!” Ajay said, “I can just- aargh, fine!” He ran towards me, and I turned in the direction the others had gone to. This was totally going to end well for sure.


	36. Ian- It's Been a Long Day Without You My Friend

We pushed into the next trial, and found ourselves in a bamboo forest, with… a hardwood floor? Yeah, there was like, an actual floor, made from actual wood planks. The bamboo reached upwards, forming a square of sunlit sky high above us.

“Sooo… this is, a thing,” I said. 

“Where the hell’s the door in this place?” Absinthe inquired, pushing past us. She scanned the bamboo chutes, and tried to pull them apart to find a way out. The chutes shifted and wobbled up to the sky, and Absinthe slipped between them. Then, she emerged from the door we had came in through.

“Son of a bitch!” she swore, “Does Solomon always make these things so fucking sadistic?”

“Give or take,” I answered, “so, if we can’t leave through the trees, then maybe we can-” I pulled out my scimitar, and tried to plunge it between the floorboards, but it cracked and shattered on impact. “Nope. Looks like we’ve gotta think inside this box.”

Killian stroked a chute, and looked up to the sun that may or may not exist. “Or we can climb our way out of the box.” He tried to mount the chute, but to no avail.

Absinthe laughed at her brother. “Need some help, dumbass?”

He glared at her, but presented himself. “Begrudgingly, yes.”

She flashed him a devilish grin, and started to walk towards him. Suddenly, her body began to warp and split, becoming a hideous mass of flesh and bone, moving like water to envelope her brother, dropping her remaining clothes as she did it. I wanted to vomit for several reasons. I should really just commit to that, eventually.

Her flesh and his became intertwined, spinning and squelching and melting into one hideous, patchwork abomination. Their faces had shaped to become something that looked like a Predator that should’ve been smothered in the crib, one set of jaws splitting to fit around the others to become a set of horrifying mandibles.

“Oh, it feels so good to be  _ me!” _ it exclaimed, stretching its four arms, and experiencing itself again. “I was hoping you would give me something more like stronger legs, but I suppose this works, too. Oh, quit your whining! You know you love this, little brother. Since when was I your little brother? Since I skimmed a few centimeters off your spine. Oh, you little shit!”

“Is this viscerally upsetting to you, too?” I asked Corn.

“Deeply,” he answered.

“Now,” it said, doing something that I think resembled cracking its knuckles, “let’s get to work.” It gripped the chutes firmly with all of its arms, and began to climb them up to the sky. Leaping across the squared off clearing for variety, it quickly ascended to the top, almost looking like it could reach the sun. And then… it did.

One final upward leap, and smack! It banged its head (heads?) against the sky, and came falling down to the floor, only spared from the fall by its combined… weirdness. “Well,” it said, “that was bullshit.”

“So… the sky,” I began, “the sky is a solid object. Fuck, it’s like Chicken Little up in here.”

“What the hell do we do now, then?” Corn asked. 

The fusion began to melt apart again, forming random parts of Absinthe and Killian as it pleased. Killian’s head and shoulders popped up, and answered, “As far as I can tell, the only option we have left is to wait.”

“Okay, but for how loooooh boy,” I stammered. Killian had reformed… without his clothes. So had Absinthe but that’s… less important.

“What?” he said, smiling at me knowingly, “Is something wrong?”

“N-no,” I stuttered, “just, you don’t have-”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he said, “we’re all men here. Nothing wrong with that.”

“A-Absinthe, though, she’s-”

“She doesn’t mind,” he said, creeping towards me, “we’re going to be here for a while it seems, might as well get comfortable.”

“Ugh,” Absinthe sneered at him, “I hope you’re not actually doing that, like, for reals.”

“Why don’t you give it a try, little sis,” he said, stepping ever closer to me, “it’s fun to watch them squirm.” He was now almost pressing up against me now, and I could taste his breath.

“Maybe I will,” Absinthe said, stepping towards Corn, “after all, a little girl like him could use some showing what he’s supposed to-”

Corn drew his knife, and pressed it against her throat. “Back off, you brotherfucking little shit.”

She just laughed. “Oh, that’s a new one. Besides, what’s wrong with a little  _ familial love?” _

“Everything,” I said, trying to evade Killian, “literally fucking everything!”

Killian continued to chase me. “Come on, doesn’t a little  _ slut  _ like you want any of this?”

“Don’t call me that,” I said, tracing the edge of the square, “please, just back off. I don’t want to hurt you, but I can if I need to.”

Corn, in turn, was being forced back by Absinthe, who was teasing the edge of the knife by shaping her neck to fit around it. “What’s wrong, lover boy? Still hanging on to your little girlfriend? Please, she’s  _ long  _ dead by now. Even if she wasn’t you’d never-”

Corn sliced through her neck, and she fell backwards into the wall, bleeding on the bamboo. She quickly patched herself up, but still glared at him in shock and pain.

“Don’t ever talk about Xander like that again,” he threatened, still brandishing the knife, “or I won’t stop at your throat.”

She shook her head and tested her neck. She scowled at him, and walked over to her brother. “Can I borrow yours? Mine isn't fun anymore.”

Killian backed away from me. “Be my guest,” he said, and his sister took his place.

In my moment of freedom, I held up my guardstaff in defiance. “I-I’m warning you,” I stammered, “don't come any clos-” My throat seized up. Absinthe laughed at my pitiful effort.

“Well, seeing as you’re the  _ girl _ in your relationship,” she threatened, “maybe I could give you a little makeover.” I could feel my muscles and skin being tugged. I tried to choke out a statement of defiance, but my throat was being gripped so tightly that I could just barely breathe. I could feel motion and distortion about my waist and chest, and I wanted to scream for help.

Then, Corn tossed his knife at her, clipping right through her shoulder to lodge itself in a bamboo chute. She pulled back in shock and pain, and I was released from her grip.

“Don't ask me why I'm holding back,” he said with a sneer, “now put on your clothes, and piss.  _ Off.” _

Absinthe growled at him, and gathered her underwear from the floor, and tossed her brother her pants. She dressed herself in them, and her brother did as well.

“Why do I have to wear your pants?” Killian asked.

“Because shut up!” she snapped at her brother.

Now able to be myself again, I felt my body just to make sure everything was still there. Yup. Might want to lose a little weight after this, my butt felt… well, maybe it'd be fine. Absinthe and Killian sulked in the corner of the clearing, and I returned to examine the chutes for any sign of progress in our escape.

I came up beside Corn, and looked over the bamboo by him. “Hey,” I said to him, “thanks for that.”

“No problem,” he said, “anything to piss those two off.”

I chuckled. “Remind me never to disrespect your man. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that, even if I am functional immortal.”

He smirked. “Any idea how much longer?”

I stared at the chutes, and began to pick out a pattern. 

“These ones aren't fully grown,” I remarked, indicating a pair of chutes, “and they look like they're bending in the same direction. Maybe we need to just… wait for them to grow, form the door on their own.”

“Great,” he said, going to slump against the door we’d come in from, “now we need to wait for grass to grow.”

“Bamboo, but, pretty much,” I admitted. I sat down next to him, and the waiting began.

  
  
  


For what seemed like days, even though the falsified sun hadn't moved, we waited for the bamboo to grow. Time ticked by, and the chutes grew a millimeter an hour. Without food or the merciful night to bring me rest, I began to grow weary, and acid crept up my esophagus. Somehow, we managed not to kill each other, even though the Hell siblings threw insults at us now and then. We  _ wanted _ to kill them, but we didn't, for some fucking reason.

Minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days, and days to minuscule growth in the bamboo door. It looked for sure they were going to merge together, but how long would it take?

To pass the time, I stared at my iPod, flipping through images to entertain myself. I had some just shitposty pics saved, but that wasn't my focus. I had swathes of pictures of Ajay and myself, but more with him by himself, because I was never the most photogenic person. For hours and hours, I poured over those images, cherishing each and every bit of him that I could remember or see. 

Tears etched paths down my cheeks, and fell onto the screen. Was I ever going to see him again, I worried, or was this all that I would have left of him? Twenty percent remaining, the battery warned me. I didn't listen. I stared down each and every frozen moment of him, smiling or grumbling into the camera. I slid into one of him and I, just smiling into the lense, the camera tilted just so. Then, the screen turned black. The battery was dead.

I looked up, and the bamboo had finally become a door. Between the two chutes, a wooden door that came to a point had formed, not unlike the ancient architecture of a castle.

“Oh, thank Mata Nui,” I said, and rushed to the door, feeling at the doorknob, “let's get the hell out of here.”

I pushed the door away, and entered what I hoped was the last trial. We were almost there. He was almost safe.


	37. Magmortarus- Ashes to Ashes

My head stung and ached, but I managed to get to my feet. I shrugged off the rubble off of myself, and stood up. My vision refocused, and I saw Tecta leaning over me. “What happened? Where are the Guardians?”

“They got away,” she answered, “Alex tossed a rock at your head, and you got knocked out.”

“No, no,” I replied, “no, I remember… I remember feeling the ground shake, and I fell backwards into a rock. In fact, the back of my head still hurts.”

“Y-yeah,” she stammered, “you were turned around. She hit you from behi-”

I grabbed her by the throat. “You’re a terrible liar, Tecta.” I stood up, and forced her to her knees in my place. “I don’t want to do this to you, Tecta, but I will if I have to. How long have I been out, and which way did the Guardians go?”

She choked and gagged, squeaking out a sentence. “I- won’t- let you- hurt them-!”

I crushed her throat harder. “If you won’t help, then I’m not going to hold back.”

“Drop- dead-!” she choked. 

“You first.” My hand tightened even more, and I could feel the blood stop, then soak onto my hands. I pulled back, and she fell to her side, close to death.

“I’m sorry, Tecta,” I told her, and extended my hand. I reached out with my powers, and began to burn her up. In a matter of moments, the body had turned to smoldering ashes, and had disappeared into the wind. I held back a tear, but stepped over the remaining dust.

“ALRIGHT!” I cried out to the colony, “WHERE DID THEY GO? HUH?  _ WHERE ARE THEY?!” _

An old woman stepped forwards. “Nowhere that I will let you follow.”

I chuckled. “You? Let  _ me? _ Oh, that’s rich!” I reached out, and began to burn at her skin. “Now, where are they?”

She smirked, refusing to recognize the burning. “Ask around, why don’t you?” I turned up the heat, and she was turned to ashes.

“Fine, then,” I said, fuming, “EVERYONE! OUT TO THE SQUARE!”

Colonists shuffled out of their homes, huddling together in fear. Families and friends were clustered together, terrified by my power.

“So, tell me,” I began, “where are the GUARDIANS?!”

They muttered in fear, holding each other close.

I huffed. “Okay. Well, if you won’t cooperate, then I guess I’ll just have to burn the information out of you.” I swung my hand, and evaporated one of them. “WHERE. ARE. THE GUARDIANS?!”

One of them stepped forward. “They- th-they went- they went to the gr-” I burned his hand off, then the rest of him.

“Too slow,” I said, “next one to stutter gets torched. So, who wants to give them up?”

A woman stepped forwards. “They’re going to the graveyard!” she cried, “Please, please, don’t hurt us!”

“Can’t guarantee it,” I said, and pushed her aside. I focused my mind, and activated a mental link with Glacies.

“Tecta’s a traitor,” I told her, “I’ve taken care of her. Now, get to the core, and bring Pherosa, too. I’ll get them from behind, if I can, but I want you two ahead of them, just in case.”

“Al- alright, Magmortarus,” she said, unsettled by my news, “I’ll see you there, then.”

“Good,” I told her, “and if you get to them first… open the box.”

I could almost hear her freeze. “You- you want us to what?”

“Let Pherosa out,” I told her, “and obliterate them.”

“Yes, Magmortarus,” she replied, “I’ll contact you when I get there.” She cut the connection, and I walked through the crowd towards the graveyard. Just for fun, I froze and torched a few tents on my way, just to make the path a little faster.

I was going to make them suffer. I was going to show them what true pain means. I will show them what loss truly is. I will burn them to the ground.


	38. Ian- An Inconvenient Truth

The next trial room was… very sparse. A circular golden room, lit by four golden flames placed around the circumference, with a brassy statue opposite the doorway. The statue depicted an old man with a close-cropped beard, arms crossed about his midriff in a very “you know I had to do it to ‘em” pose, but with a tiny bit more regality. His eyes were shut as we came in, but, as we closed the door, they seemed to open.

“Okay,” I said, “what’s this place’s deal?”

“Let’s get this over with,” Absinthe said, and strode up to the the statue. The statue took notice, and moved its head to follow her motions. Its eyes began to glow, and bolts of electricity shot out to smite her, sending her flying back into the wall.

“Only immortals are permitted to receive my keep,” it spoke.

“Oh, you son of a-!” she threatened, waving her fist at it, but was smote again by it. “SHIT!” Killian laughed. “SHUT UP!” she snapped, but her brother just kept at it, so she slapped him remotely. 

I took a nervous step towards the statue. No response. Another. Still nothing. I walked up to it, and it regarded me in kind. “If you wish to reclaim my bounty,” it spoke, “I will ask, and then you will learn. These truths may not be ones you wish to hear. Do you wish to receive it?”

I gulped hard. “Yes.”

“Very well,” it replied, “tell me, child, for what reason do you seek these remains?”

“To- to save the universe,” I said, only half-lying.

“I can tell that is not the whole truth,” it replied, “so, for what reason do you wish to save this universe?”

“Be-because it’s the right thing to do,” I told it.

“That is a justification, not a reason,” it said, “tell me your reason.”

“Jeez, what the hell is this? Twenty questions?” I asked, becoming impatient with it, “Listen, I told you why, just-”

“What is your reason?” it asked more forcefully.

I sighed, then swallowed my pride. “To save my friends.”

“Just your friends?”

I swallowed again. “My boyfriend.” 

The statue frowned at me. “Your love is mortal, yes?”

“Y-yes,” I answered.

It nodded. “That is all I wished to know. Now, it is your turn to learn.”

I was getting choked up, but I kept a hold on myself. “Okay, then. What do I need to know?”

It grimaced. “Your immortality is not unconditional. You can withstand being killed or destroyed, but scars will still form on your flesh and time will still strip you of your strength. Should your love be killed, you will be forced to live on without him. Your friends, family, and loved ones will die, and you will be forced to live on without them. This is the truth you would come to know, even without my help.

“Unless, of course,” it proposed, “you choose to extinguish your life with your own hand, and give it up forever. Now, tell me, do you know what my keep is capable of doing?”

“N-no,” I replied.

“It is a weapon,” it answered, “that once held the shape of a man. A man whose life’s goal was to bring pain and destruction. A madman. Using this weapon will save your beloved, but it will come at a price. For it to be used, you must allow it to seep into yourself. When the deed is done, it will leave, but it may leave scars on its way out. Scars that will not want to heal. Scars that will not be healed even by death. Are you still willing to take the risk?”

“Y-” I began, but choked on my words. “Yes.”

“Ian, you don’t have to do this,” Cornelius offered, “I can take it instead, I can-”

“Silence,” the statue bid him, “this is not your burden to bear.”

“Like hell it isn’t,” he swore, “my boyfriend is stuck there too, this is much my problem as it is his!”

“You will be silent!” the statue repeated, its eyes glowing with white-hot rage.

Corn stepped towards it in defiance. “I’m not going to listen to some buffed-brass piece of shit like you,” he denied it, “I’m going to plunge that shit into my head and you can’t fucking stop me!”

“Corn, just give it up!” I told him, not willing to face him.

“Fuck you!” he raged, “I’m going to do this shit if it kills me!”

The statue glared at him, and struck him away with a powerful bolt of energy. He flew through the air, and crashed against the door. 

“Please,” I told him, “just let me do this.”

The statue looked down at me, now. “There is one last thing I must tell you.”

“Then tell me,” I begged, holding back tears.

“This destruction,” it said, “the great divide between dimensions, it was caused by your choice.”

I froze. “W-what?”

“When you chose to take your life,” it said, “you were faced with two options: to live, or to die. In this world, you have lived. But, in so many more others, your decision was final. The first time you died was your last. This destroyed your beloved, and turned him into a monster.

“As well, every subsequent time you made the choice to take your life another timeline formed. With every time you lived, there is another when you died. Again, this destroyed him. Over and over, again and again, you stripped the universe of worlds where you existed. When you confront the destroyer of worlds, it will only be you who will stand against him.

“Now, I have one last question, which you must answer as ultimate truth. Are you willing to suffer and to give before you can earn?”

“Yes,” I answered surely.

“Very well,” it replied, and opened its hands. Within them was a small, brown, felt bag, tied with a golden string. “Use it well, use it wisely.”

I took the bag, and held it tenderly in my hands. I could feel the sharp, cracked shards of the Stone within, and slipped it into my pocket. The golden room around us began to melt away, revealing that we were once again in the ship hangar.

“Alrighty, then,” I said, “Corn, you go get Drannis, Aubrey and Jane. Killian, Absinthe, you two need to gather the rest of the thirty-one, plus or minus another Reality Guardian.”

“What makes you think we’ll-” Absinthe defied.

“Just fucking do it for once!” I snapped, and sighed loudly. “I’m going to the Core. Take your own ships, I’ll meet you there.”

Corn came up behind me, and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Good luck.”

“You too, man,” I told him, “now, get out of here. We got ourselves a universe to save.”

They all ran off to their own ships, and took off through the exit flap. I was alone, clutching the bag in my pocket. Now, it was my turn to do something for Ajay.


	39. History- Scarlet Letter

Ten years had passed since Ombracion’s first election as congressman. Two years had passed since his marriage to Noira. He was now on his way to being the prime candidate for president of his world, and to being a father. Noira was a few months pregnant, and very little could’ve made him happier. He was excited to be a father, far more ready to take up the mantle of a caretaker than his own father had been. The Banished Knights had long dissolved, but was still deeply passionate about music.

He was bent over a desktop computer, typing away on a word document, preparing a letter for his party members. He had found himself stuck on the first paragraph, but, for once, he didn’t mind. His day had gone well, and not much was weighing on his mind.

Noira stepped into the room, bringing a quiet light into the room as she creaked the door open. “Hey,” she greeted him, “how’s that letter going?”

“It’s alright,” he answered, a smile appearing in the corner of his mouth, “nothing too special, all politics speak. You doing alright?”

“Yeah,” she answered, “a little nauseous, a little heavy, but alright.”

“Good,” he answered, and got up to plant a kiss on her cheek, “I’ll just be a few more minutes, you get to bed, I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay,” she said to him, “I love you.”

“Love you too,” he said, stroking her shoulder as she left.

He spent another ten or so minutes, saved the document for another day, and shut the computer down for the night. He walked past their apartment’s bathroom, and to the door of their bedroom. He opened the door, and saw her, wearing pale white lace that covered her slightly bulging midriff like a curtain.

She turned. “Hey,” she said simply, “just trying this new one on. What do you think?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, “nothing you could wear could make me happier to be with you.”

She smiled, but there was some sadness to it. “You get changed, your clothes are-”

“Nonsense,” he dismissed, “I just need to get this off me.” He pulled his black suit off of himself, unbuttoning himself as fast as he could to relieve himself of his official stresses. He peeled his pants off of himself, and took his wife’s hand in his own. 

She smiled, but seemed flustered. “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking note of her small discomforts.

“It’s- it’s nothing,” she dismissed, “let’s just- let’s get to bed, alright?”

“No,” he said, concerned, “if there’s something wrong, I want you to tell me, no matter what. What is it?”

She pulled away from him. “No, no- it’s just- it’s nothing, Bracer! It’s nothing!”

“I said tell me!” he said with more force than he mean to use, “What’s wrong?!”

“I- you-” she stammered, “our- it’s about our child.”

This stung him in the back of his head. “Wh- what about it?”

“I-its,” she stuttered, “it’s not yours.”

His heart almost stopped. Rage and fear and hate filled him up, replacing his blood with confused emotion. “You- what?”

“I- I knew how much you wanted a kid, but all of our trying wasn’t getting any results,” she explained, pulling away from him, “so, I, I went to a doctor, and, and she said that… that I wasn’t the problem. She said… she said that I was perfectly healthy, and that- that if I couldn’t- if we weren’t having any success, then- then it was my partner’s fault.”

Rage became dominant in his mind. He balled his fists, and clenched his teeth. “Then what happened there?” He pointed an accusing finger at her midriff, which she clutched and tried to hide from him. 

“It- it’s no one you know,” she answered, “he’s- I met him a few months ago, and- and-!”

“A few  _ months?!” _ he yelled, “We’ve been together for  _ years, _ and you get pregnant from a guy you barely  _ knew?!” _

“Bracer, please-!” she pleaded.

“No, don’t call me Bracer!” he snapped, anger covering his skin like flames, “You don’t get to call me that anymore. How could you do this to me?! How could you betray me like this?!”

“I- I thought it would make you happy!” she reasoned, “You always said you wanted a kid, and- and-!”

“JUST SHUT UP!” he shouted, “JUST SHUT UP! GET OUT OF HERE! I DON’T WANT YOU HERE ANYMORE!”

“Bracer, I’m sorry!” she said, cowering away from him, “I just- I only wanted to-!”

Then, his anger and pain overtook him, and he raised his hand, and slapped it open-palmed against her face. She cried out in pain, and fell back against the wall. Without his realizing it, Bracer had become wreathed in black flames, which skirted about his naked skin like taunting dancers. He looked at his hand, and then down at her. Her cheek was now scarred with his handprint burned into its surface.  

“Noira,” he said, afraid of himself and what he had done, “I’m- I’m sorry! I-”

“No,” she said, tears in her eyes, “no, you’re not sorry! I did this for  _ you, _ and this is the thanks I get?!”

She pushed him away, and left into the hallway. She stole his trenchcoat from the hanger, and left, wearing naught but her undergarments and the stolen coat.

Bracer collapsed onto the floor. “NO!” he screamed, “NO!” The flames that danced on his body now spread to the floor, torching the bedroom carpet. The light flickered, then went out, his powers of shadow killing it where it stood. He stood up, wiping vengeful tears from his eyes. He raised his hand again, and punched a hole clean through the bedroom wall into the hallway.

Again and again he struck at it, until it was nothing more than a pile of rubble, pipes and wires. His hands were bleeding and scarred, and he finally collapsed on the floor again, overcome by his emotions.

“Please,” he pleaded, “someone help me… please… someone…”

Then, that ever-familiar voice returned to his head. “I am so sorry for you, my child.”

“What do you want?” he asked Omega.

“Only to help you,” they answered, “I know of a parentless child, stranded in the farthest reaches of space. Lost and abandoned, like another young boy I know of.”

He turned himself upright. “Where can I find them?”


	40. Xander- A Mass Grave For One

“Where the hell is this graveyard, anyways?” I asked. We were well on our way to the core, but no signs of it had shown themselves.

Solomon grumbled. “How should I know?”

“You’re the one who spent a good fucking hour as a rock absorbing the rules of the universe,” I taunted him, “you fucking tell me.”

Lena was still out cold on his shoulder, but her face looked too damn punchable for it to be real. He turned around, and glared at me, fuming, and, for a split second, I could see the family resemblance between him and his brother.

I looked back, and saw Alex and Ajay in the distance, speeding towards us. Losers.

“How much fucking further away is this place?” I complained, “It’s gotta be at least- oh.” I looked up, and saw it there: the graveyard, with headstones stretching on for miles, surrounded by the celestial pillars like a temple, dug down in a valley like a representation of itself.

And, in the center, a statue, made of grey-black stone, arms outstretched, long hair flowing static in the absent wind. I knew who the statue was, and it stung me all the way up and down my body. The slashed and scarred cheeks, immortalized in granite, topped with a crown of obsidian. This was a statue of Xaneeta.

“Oh, dear me,” Solomon commented, “Xander…”

“I got it, old man,” I spat, my rage acting as a mask as my knees almost broke under my weight. Emotions flooded my mind. Fear, anger, sadness, doubt. Dysphoria. “Let’s just get the hell past this place, and get this shit done.”

Ajay and Alex came up behind us. “Hey, what’s crackin’, my dudes?” Alex greeted us. I didn’t respond. “Xander? You cool? Lena didn’t beat you to a pulp or nothin’, did she?” Again, nothing. “Come on, man, you- oh.” She noticed the graveyard, and the statue. “Sorry, man. That’s… that’s pretty fuckin’ rough.”

“I noticed,” I said, balling my fists, “now, can we please just go?”

“Fine by me,” Ajay said, and spread his wings, “anyone want a ride?” Alex raised her hand. “Of course you do. Grab on.” He flew her down, landing in a central pathway, leading down towards the statue.

Solomon carefully slid down the side the canyon, cautious not to disturb Lena. I, instead, chose to just run down them, taking leaping steps, rocketing down towards the graveyard. I landed in the middle of the path, and looked up at the statue. I never wanted to destroy anything more. 

I looked to the headstones. Each one of them bore the same name with the same date.

“So, what- what happened with… all this?” Ajay asked.

“As far as I am aware,” Solomon answered, “this is a mass grave for each individual version of Xan- I’m sorry, do I use Xander or Xaneeta in this case? I apologize, I’m not entirely su-”

“Xaneeta,” I answered, the name burning my tongue, “use Xaneeta.”

“Thank you,” Solomon said, “so, as I was saying, this appears to be a grave site for every version of Xaneeta from every dimension that comprises this universe. But… what could be the cause of death? This seems to almost be a constant between all variations, but why?”

Alex walked up to the statue, and placed her hand on the rectangular base. “I think I might’ve found the answer.”

I stepped across the path, and looked at the engraving on the rock. “I can’t read it.”

Solomon looked at me disdainfully. “Can you- can you not  _ read?” _

“Nope,” I answered, “you don’t get much time for language training when you’re raised by a fucking psychopath who’s training you to become a mass murderer.”

Solomon gulped. “Alright, then.”

“I can read it for you,” Alex offered, “but… you’re not going to like it.”

“I already don’t,” I said, “you’re not changing my mind on this one.”

“Okay,” she said tentatively, “here goes…

_ “Xaneeta Withers, died E421 2016, December 17th. May what she took never be lost again.” _

I glared at it. I could tell my father wrote it. Everyone around me was fretting and apologizing to me, but I ignored them. They buzzed and hovered around me, but I just shook them off.

“Just everyone shut up!” I said, angrily raising my hands to part them.

“Apologies, Xander,” Solomon said, putting his hand on my shoulder, “we were only showing-”

“Don't fucking touch me,” I said, shoving his arm away, “if I wanted your support, I would ask for it.”

“Well, my question still remains,” Solomon said, “what on earth could be the-”

“Suicide,” I answered.

“Oh,” he realized, “but, wh-”

“Because I didn’t want to live under him anymore,” I answered before he could finish, “I knew he was never going to let me be me. I only ever played along with his fucking schemes because I knew if I didn’t he would do them anyways. I just wanted to get it over with, and then… I guess I got it over with.”

Alex put her hand on my shoulder, but this time, I didn’t resist.

“Hey,” she said, leaning into my ear, “wanna blow it up?”

“Hell yeah,” I answered.

“Alright,” she said, clapping her hands together, “everyone, stand back, we’re about to go into aggressive therapy.”

“What?” Solomon asked.

“We be blowin’ shit up!” Alex said with a giant grin, “Now step the fuck back, kiddos!”

Ajay and Solomon stepped backwards, and Alex held up my hand in the direction of the statue. “Okay, I’m gonna count down from three, and when I say go, we blast that shit to smithereens!” She held up her hand adjacent to mine. 

“Alright, three, two, one, GO!”

I shot out a powerful blast of sound from my hand, and sent it rippling through the statue, and Alex did the same, toppling the stone megalith and shattering Xaneeta’s visage. Fuck yeah.

“Alright!” Alex exclaimed triumphantly, “That’s one hell of a job, dontcha think?”

I smirked. “Not bad.”

“I feel like that was a bad decision,” Ajay commented.

“Who the fuck-” Lena mumbled.

“Shush, we’re bonding, you should try it sometime,” Alex quieted him. 

“No, no, I think he might be correct,” Solomon chimed in, “even if those… whatever they’re called weren’t on our tails to begin with, a giant sound blast resulting in the crumbling of a giant statue was the worst way to avoid getting their attention!”

“Come on, man,” Alex complained, “can’t we just have this one thing?”

Then, in the distance, I could hear the flapping of wings. “Shit,” I swore, “teacherman’s right, I can hear that dragon fucker from here.”

“Magmortarus?” Ajay asked.

“Who the fuck do you think, dumbass?”

“Good point,” he replied, “I would recommend that, uh, maybe you guys should get out of here so you can survive?”

“Are you going to try to fight him?” Solomon asked.

“That’s the plan!” Ajay answered, drawing his sword, “He’s got like, murder powers or some shit, I dunno, just get out of here!”

“He’s right,” Alex agreed, stepping up over the rubble “let’s high-tail it out of here.”

“No objections from me,” I said dryly, following behind her, “teacherman, keep up.”

“Agh- That is not my name!” Solomon chided.

“Like hell it isn’t,” I replied, “now move!” 

We walked on top the rubble, and Alex helped Solomon contain Lena as they crossed. I looked back, and saw Magmortarus on the horizon, and Ajay in the middle of the path. Funny, I almost felt scared for him. Weird.

 


	41. Magmortarus- Who Am I Living For?

I flapped my wings, and retracted them, falling to the ground, and landing on the path. My weaker twin stood before a pile of rubble, his gladius drawn. I could see the others escaping behind him, but they weren’t the priority anymore. I was going to prune this branch once and for all.

“So,” I began, tilting my head to get a better look at him, “that’s what I used to look like, is it?”

“Man,” he countered, “do I really look as ugly as you? That’s one hell of a letdown. The mirror really fucks with your dimensions.”

I chuckled. “You wish you looked this good,” I said, tracing my jawline with my finger.

“Same to you, fucknuts,” he said.

“There is one thing I like about you, though,” I said, pulling out my knighthilt.

“And what’s that?” he said with a confident smirk. 

“How good your face looks when it gets splattered,” I said, and my sword burst forth from the hilt, digging into the ground, and I raised it up, screaming and running towards him. He ran towards me, too, screaming back at me. He held his blade with both hands, and readied an underhand strike. Pathetic.

I began to bring my blade down, but he stopped in his tracks, and spread his wings, catapulting himself backwards, and sending dust and light rubble into my face. “Gah!” I exclaimed, shielding my eyes from the dirt. I blinked my eyes, and saw him hanging in the sky above me.

“You’re not the only one with fancy flappers,” he remarked.

“Let’s see who wore them better, then,” I retorted, and began to spread my own. Each excruciating inch of them crawled out from between my shoulderblades, the metal plates clawing their way out of the void through my skin. They folded and expanded outwards, and I flapped, sending myself into the sky, more than twice as high as he was.

He chuckled nervously, and gulped. “I’d ask if you’re compensating for something, but I think I know the answer.”

I scowled, and dove down at him, pointing my blade down towards his chest. I almost ran him through, but the knighthilt malfunctioned, and my sword shattered and evaporated, and I rammed into him, and we both fell to the ground.

We put our arms to each other’s shoulders, trying to force one another away, resulting in us trying to wrestle the lives out of each other. I released one hand, and then put it to his throat, choking him. 

“DIE! DIE! DIE!” I demanded, tightening my grip, trying to snuff him out like a lobotomized mule. He released one of his own hands, and struck me across the nose, then again in the left of my chest.

“GAH!” I exclaimed, and stumbled backwards, letting go of him. I fell backwards onto the path, landing on my ass. He stood up, and raised his gladius again. He brought it down with a forceful yell, but I gripped the blade with my bare hand, and sucked the heat from it, freezing the burning blade. He looked down at it, shocked, and pulled away. 

I drew my knighthilt again, and summoned a smaller blade this time. My old signature gladius shot from the hilt, and I twirled it in my hand. “End of the line,” I threatened.

“Oh, come on,” Ajay said, “I was just starting to have f-” I swung my blade at him, narrowly missing his chest. “SHIT!” he exclaimed, and took a step backwards.

“Just let me kill you!” I demanded, frothing at the mouth, “Why are you even fighting back?! Why are you resisting?!”

“Because I have people to live for,” he said, taking heaving breaths.

“Like who?” I asked, dragging my blade along the ground, “Like Alex? Like Solomon? Gordon left you! Nobody is left for you here!”

“Maybe not here,” he replied, “but back home.”

“But, as I understand,” I argued, “you can’t go back! Ever! No matter how many battles you win or universes you save or years you live, you will never see them again!”

He frowned, bending over like his chest was being weighed down. “Yeah, but who gives a shit?” He swung his blade, and cut me across the chest.

“AH!” I cried in pain, clutching the wound. My armour protected me, but it still hurt. I growled, and struck out at him in turn, nicking him on the shoulder, freezing the flesh. He winced and stepped away, but continued to fight.

He tried to fling a fireball, but I froze it in the air, and caught it in my hand. I threw it back at him, narrowly missing his head, and swung my sword while he was distracted by it. He matched my attack, and our blades sizzled and sparked like a lightning storm could’ve formed between the two fronts. 

He stepped away, and spread his wings to fly away, but I froze the wings, too. He crashed down to the ground, landing on the pile of rubble.

“So,” I said, stepping towards him, “why do you fight back? You’ve got nothing to lose, nothing to gain, everyone you know is as good as dead! In a matter of hours, Dark Omega’s plan will be completed. Our universe will crash into yours and destroy it, and we win! Besides, the only person you’ve ever truly loved was dead before this, so who do you have to fight for?!”

He coughed, and breathed sharply, holding weakly onto his shimmering gladius. “The fuck are you talking about?”

Rage boiled my blood and froze my nerves, and I screamed and yelled madly, raising my knighthilt and growing the blade back to its normal size, and brought it down on him, even though he managed to block my attacks.

“AAAAH!” I screamed, smashing away at his gladius with my own sword, chipping away at his blade with each drop of the sword. His gladius shattered, and I let up, if just for a moment. “How dare you forget him?” I asked, strained and stressed, “How could you go on without him?”

“Who are you talking about?” he asked, “It’s a simple fucking question!”

I gritted my teeth, and screamed, smashing my sword against the ground and sending dirt and stone flying everywhere. “IAN! IAN KNOWELL! YOU SAW HIM DIE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! IAN WITH HIS STUPID SWEATER AND HIS STUPID SWORD AND HIS STUPID BEAUTIFUL FACE! DO YOU REMEMBER HIM NOW?! DO YOU EVEN CARE?! DID YOU EVER REALIZE YOU LOVED HIM?! DID YOU EVER REALIZE HE LOVED YOU, YOU DUMB, THOUGHTLESS BASTARD?! DID YOU?!  _ DID YOU?!” _

He looked up at me, and squinted. “So that’s what happened to you,” he realized, “you… you lost him.”

I scowled down at him. Now, it was my turn to ask, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“He’s alive you dumb fuck,” he answered, “who the hell else would I be trying to save?”

I dropped my sword, and the hilt clattered to the ground. My emotions went haywire, and so did my powers. My body burned and froze in strange places, and my head swam from everything I was taking in. “Wh- what? He’s- he’ s what?”

“Ian’s alive,” he repeated, “he’s what I’m fighting for.”

My confusion evaporated, and a clear path developed in my mind. “Well, then,” I said, scraping up my knighthilt from the ground, “I guess he won’t be missing you, either.”


	42. Alex- Suicide Bombshell

We pounded the dirt, running over and across piles of rubble, Xander leading the charge with Solomon and I carrying Lena between us. The pillars had gotten closer and thinner, even twisting and turning and melting into each other, forming a proverbial rainforest of stellar stone.

“How do we know when we get to the core?” I asked, gripping Lena by her back and remaining shoulder. Now mostly awake, she was thrashing and resisting, so we had to keep her held like this in case she tried to straight up decapitate Xander.

“It’ll be anything but subtle,” Xander answered, “Chaos said my dad was in a death metal band once, he’s got a thing for imagery.”

“Your dad was in a death metal band?” I questioned.

“It was hell,” he replied, “for the first few years of my life my lullabies were screamed by Halfguard.”

“I want to say that’s kinda rad but you had a really rough childhood so I’m gonna hold off on that,” I told him.

“Good idea.” He paused briefly, and took a moment to listen. “I hear wings up ahead,” he informed us, “if those are Halfguard and not some bullshit whatever-the-hells he’s cooked up, I think we’re pretty close.”

We served between the pillars, which had now become more like standard tree trunks scrunched up together than towers of stone that stretched out across the astral plane. The pillars got thinner and thinner and closer and closer until we could barely pass through them, but I could make out something on the other side. A vague black mass on the horizon, blocked by the pillars but still distinctly titanic.

“I think I’m spotting something,” I said, “large black something on our twelve. Oh, geez, that sounded gross.”

“Only once you pointed it out,” Solomon commented, struggling to keep Lena from kicking him back into his rock, “but I’m seeing it, as well.”

“Anyone else just realize we probably have like zero chance at this, right now?” I asked.

“I was trying not to,” Solomon admitted, “but, once again, you have brought to the forefront the most unpleasant of emotions.”

I smiled apologetically. “Sorry.”

“No problem from me,” Xander said, “we either beat him, or we die and don’t have to deal with him anymore. It’s a win-win for me.”

“Well,” I said, my heart falling into my boots, “you’re… positive.”

“You know it,” he said, without a trace of irony.

“What about Cornelius though?” I asked him.

He paused. “If he’s dead, then that means I’m dead first. Not much left for either of us after that.”

I frowned, but we kept going. Finally, the pillars got so thin that they just decided to vanish, and we saw our destination for the first time.

The structure before us was a massive black cathedral, sitting in a country-sized lawn and built like a skyscraper designed to hold planets worth of people, with city-sized towers reaching up to the sky, each one twisting and twirling a like morbid candy cane. Entire populations of Halfguard swarmed around it, more like Jupiterian storms than anything else, pulsating and beating like a hideous heart of darkness. 

“Uh, yup,” I commented, “that is, indeed, some real death metal shit. So… what the hell do we do now?”

Xander took out his guardstaff, and summoned his sword. “We storm a castle is what the hell we do now.”

“Sounds rad,” I said, “I’m in.” We stepped out onto the plain, and, somehow, weren’t swarmed by millions upon millions of zombie warriors with incredible elemental powers.

We walked across the immense courtyard, and still nothing. 

“This feels… suspicious,” I commented.

“Never say that again,” Xander quieted me, “you know for a fact saying shit like that is what gets people killed.”

“Good point,” I said, grimacing. Just then, something proved me right. I heard a loud and high whoosh of sound behind us, and then a blur of black, white and blue shot around and past us. By the time it had slowed down enough for us to register, it was halfway between us and the cathedral.

It froze in place, and I could make out the shapes of two Guardians (or something), carrying a coffin between them. Gordon and Glacies.

“Goofus and Doofus at twelve o’clock,” I commented.

“I can see that!” Solomon groaned.

Glacies stepped forwards, leaving Gordon with the coffin. “This is your last chance,” she threatened, “we don’t want to kill you, but we will if we have to.” Gordon pawed at the coffin lid, and looked at her with a face full of concern.

“Gordon,” Glacies said, “open the coffin.”

He looked at her with fear and worry in his eyes, but again, she commanded him, “I said, open it.” He took his hands away from it, and she stormed back to him. “If you won’t do it, then I will!”

She began to pull the lid open, but Gordon struck her with a bolt of lightning as she did, sending her flying backwards and away. Shadowy winds burst forth from the partly opened lid, but Gordon managed to seal it shut, but was immediately counteracted when Glacies came back at incredible speed, knocking him sideways and down to the ground.

“We are doing this whether you like it or not!” she repeated, her hand firmly on the coffin, now. Gordon stuck out his hand and indicated us, but she dismissed him again, saying, “I don’t care if they’re your friends! They’re the enemy, and the enemy has to be beaten!” She tore the coffin open, and was struck by Gordon’s lightning again, colliding mere seconds after it could’ve been useful.

As the lid opened, the screams of a thousand dead shrieked and shot through the air, accompanied by a tornado of black, ghostly wind, desperate to spread like a wolf hunting down food. Halfguard dropped dead from the sky in droves as the shrieks grew louder and the black storm grew infinitely to the sky. Then, it receded back into the coffin, and the shrieks quieted, replaced by the sounds of Halfguard falling to the earth. Then, a hand. A hand, grasping at the side of the coffin, with pale, scarred skin and claws for nails.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“Make poor decisions,” Xander answered, “for once, we need Lena to do her thing.”

“O-okay,” I said tentatively, “Solomon, let her down.”

We placed Lena on the ground, and she went bolt upright, shoving us down and away. “What the hell is going on now,” she asked, shoving Xander aside with her remaining arm, “and who do I get to kill for it?”

The owner of hand began to claw her way out, revealing herself limb by limb, each one covered in the pointed Guardian armour that the Knights of this world were so famous for. Then, her head popped up, and I recognized the face stretched out upon it, even with the innumerable scars marking its surface.

The hateful, rage-drenched eyes, the blonde hair that was very purposefully shorter on one side than the other; this was Lena Weiss. “So,” she spoke, hoarse and raspy like she had been screaming for years, “which of you shitfuckers do I need to put six feet under?”

“Oh, hell,” I swore, “this is… not fantastic.”

“I’d disagree,” Xander commented, “but that means I would have to say that Lena’s at least competent at her job either way.”

Lena turned to scowl at him, but looked back at her doppelganger. “Hey, horse fucker!” she said to her, “If anyone’s doin’ any grave diggin’ here, it’s gonna be your own.” Her arm shot forth, and then grew to immense, almost comical size. “Game on, shitface.” Then, in a flash, her arm punched out like a bullet train, on a direct path to her opponent.

Pherosa leapt up over the fist, landing on it like a platform as it went crashing through the coffin, and she ran over it like it was just a weird pink treadmill. She swiped her hands, and tendrils of black, smoking energy shot forth. We all ducked except Lena, who instead curved her hand back around intending to smack Pherosa in the back.

The fist twisted like a snake, and came speeding towards her, but Pherosa jumped in mid-air, spinning around and blasting it with the black energy, shattering it to pieces. The whole arm broke apart in an instant, and she twirled around in the air like an acrobat, landing on her feet just to keep running towards Lena.

Lena grabbed at her guardstaff, but looked back up to see Pherosa hurtling towards her. Pherosa screamed, about to strike her in the head, but Lena released her arm again, this time with a sword blade for a hand. The blade reached out, and cleaved through Pherosa’s neck, severing her head from her body. Both parts of her fell down to the ground with a sickening thud, blood shooting from her severed neck.

Lena pulled the head up by the hair, and declared, “I always hated that bitch,” and swung it away like a shot put.

“Well, that was terrifying,” Solomon decided.

Xander chuckled. “You’re a real pussy, aren’t you?”

He looked at him quizzically. “Is that a colloquialism I’m missing or are you just erroneously calling me a cat?”

I laughed loudly and boisterously. “Holy hell, ha, I didn’t know you were  _ that  _ disconnected from society!”

“I don’t-” he said, but sighed, and gave up. “Oh, bother. You know what? I should just learn to stop caring after a point.”

“Good idea,” I concurred. I looked up, and saw Gordon and Glacies on the horizon, still on their sides, struggling to get up. 

Glacies pushed herself up, leaning on one arm. “Gordon, how could you do this to me?” she asked, “I thought- I thought we were-”

He shook his head, and indicated us again. He glared at her, and she frowned. “I see how it is. They’re more important to you than I am, now, are they?”

He nodded. “Alright, then,” she said, pulling out a knighthilt, “if that’s how it’s gotta be…”

“STOP! ALL OF YOU!” I turned around, and saw Magmortarus, emerging from the pillar forest behind us. “Dark Omega is going to want you alive.” He raised his sword, and pointed at Xander. “Especially you. Try anything, and you’re all toast.”

Suddenly, a realization hit me. “Wait, where’s Ajay? What happened to Ajay?”

He scowled at me. “That’s not important.”

I drew my guardstaff, and raised it, charging at him. He aimed a swift kick between my legs, and I fell sideways. “Oooh fuck,” I groaned, clutching my stomach and crotch, “oooh I feel like being dead now. Oooh that was a real dick move.”

“That was the point,” he said derisively, “someone help her up, and let’s move.”

Begrudgingly, Xander helped me up, and Solomon took hold of Lena, who struggled, but was just afraid enough not to knock Magmortarus’ block off. We marched towards the black cathedral, terrified of what was inside. As it stood, there was no way in hell this was going to go well. Also, my crotch hurt, so that was very much not fun and did not help. Oh boy.


	43. History- Nothing But Respect For My President

Ombracion stepped up to the podium. A stage, built in the middle of a great, grassy lawn before the presidential residence, surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of citizens and press. Eager press and supporters clapped and snapped pictures as he stepped up, but he needed only to wave his hand to dismiss them, and they were silent. “Thank you, thank you,” he said modestly, “I appreciate it. So, what are we here for, today? Hm?”

The crowd was silent, awaiting his answer. “We’re here to celebrate a victory!” Ombracion declared jovially, “Not just a victory for me, no, but a victory for all of you! A victory against the tyranny of the Guardians! Each and every one of you, my voters, has taken a step to strip away the power of the Guardians, and towards your freedom!”

The crowd cheered and roared, and images were snapped as he raised his arms in triumph. He grinned out at the crowd, and saw, hunched at the other end of the courtyard, the very first Halfguard he had made, hidden at the top of an innocuous office building. He gestured covertly to it, and it perked up, spreading its fiery wings. 

“Yes, yes,” he said to quiet the crowd, secretly observing his servant as it flew away, “now, I would like to thank the other dignitaries,” he indicated the council of twenty-some other rulers to his side, “for being here to witness my inauguration. I know we have our differences,” he glared at the Guardian King of Fire out of the side of his eye, “but I am sure that we can welcome each others’ differences. Together, we can build to a brighter and greater future, a future decided by the people, and not by the Guardians! My fellow Shadownians, we are united, and we can stand for ourselves. We! Are! POWERFUL! We! ARE! THE DARKNESS!”

He raised his arms again, and the crowd roared even louder than before, so much that he worried his ears would burst or his voice be silenced by it. The Halfguard took this as a command, and turned to fly into the distance.

“Now,” Ombracion said, “I am open to questions. Who wants to go first?”

The Halfguard skirted the tops of buildings, hunting down its prey.

A reporter held up a microphone above the crowd. “President Withers, you claim that we are free from the tyranny of the Guardians, yet it has been cited that you are a Guardian, yourself. What do you have to say about this?”

The Halfguard leapt across the street, flapping its wings but once to cross the divide.

Ombracion chuckled. “Well, to me, a Guardian is more than just someone with a fancy rock in his head.”

It crawled the sides of buildings, searching for its prey, resolute in its hunt.

“To me, a Guardian is someone abuses their power. A Guardian is someone who uses his power to achieve his own ends. Who sits idly by while people are suffering.”

The Halfguard heard footsteps, and recognized the voice of its prey. It crawled about the corner of a building, tracking it down.

“A Guardian is someone who sees his power, and realizes that he can decide who lives and who dies. Who suffers, and who thrives.”

It could see its prey, now. A woman with a scarred face, walking hand in hand with a man, who then stopped to put his hand on his partner’s stomach. 

“A Guardian willfully inflicts pain upon those he opposes.”

The Halfguard dropped down, startling the pair, who turned to face him, and were immediately afraid for their lives.

“A Guardian doesn’t follow the rules, he looks at them, and he breaks them.”

They both screamed, and turned tail to run, but the Halfguard pounced, landing on the man’s back, taking him to the ground.

“A Guardian makes his own rules.”

The Halfguard sunk its diabolical metal teeth into the man’s neck, and tore a piece of spine out. The woman screamed, and ran away even faster.

“A Guardian says to everyone ‘I am the ruler now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’”

It continued to sink its teeth into the now dead man’s spine, tearing up bits of bone with its metal fangs. It turned its gaze to the woman, fleeing down an alleyway, and, satisfied with its prey, dove after her instead.

“A Guardian decides who’s right and who’s wrong.”

The monster pounced on her, and she fell to the ground, landing flat on her face. She managed to turn her head enough to see it, and looked up to see it as it arched its back, open its horrifying jaw, and bite down.

“I can assure you, that’s not who I am.”


	44. Xander- Always Bring a Loose Cannon to a Knife Fight

Magmortarus to our back and Glacies to our front, we marched towards the stellar-scaled cathedral, guarded by monolithic doors the size of icebergs. I gazed up at them, and saw my father’s signature mortal imagery carved upon and about them, more befitting of a mausoleum than a domicile. 

Glacies stuck her hand into the gap between the doors, and gave Gordon a stern and disapproving look as she did it. They swung slowly and cleanly inwards, like the jaws of a monster opening to swallow its prey.

I stood firm as the doors separated, secretly petrified of what could be inside. I knew my father, past tense. The thought of what he could have become now… I had seen what one universe worth of him could be like, but this many?

The doors continued on their slow, calculated and excruciating path, and revealed, millimeter by millimeter, the man at the end of the hall, or what had become of him.

A mass of twisting and darkness-clouded something occupied the planet-sized apse of the cathedral, writhing and amorphous. Something of a human shape could be discerned, covered in innumerable Stones and minuscule iridescent plates designed for something a billionth of his size. 

Long, powerful, skyscraping hands hung down from lunar shoulders, which came from shoulder blades the size of countries, and reflected about a spine that was made with massive, sleeping faces in place of vertebrae. The spinal faces’ mouths were carved into snarling scowls, falling into the uncanny valley between human and Halfguard features, breathing slightly and revealing fanged teeth beneath the metal spikes that replaced the lips. Then, the eyes snapped open.

Bloodshot, all too human eyes stared back with curious, inquisitive fervour, searching for the something that had opened the door. Reflexively, my armour peeled over my body, shielding me from his gaze.

The mouths opened, and spoke as one, each voice carrying the voice and terror of an earthquake. “You have caught the Guardians, Magmortarus?”

“Yes, my master,” Magmortarus said, stepping forward and kneeling, “but not just any Guardians.” He took me by the arm, and shoved me forward. If I wasn’t gripped by paralyzing and crippling panic, I would’ve knocked his block off.

Dark Omega pivoted like a snake turning on his tail, and looked at me with his true face. It didn’t look any better. Eyes crept up his scalp like tattoos or horns, each with its own indentation in the face, disappearing at the apex of his skull. Rows of goat’s horns were placed similarly, offset so that they started at the forehead. The mouth was much the same as the others, except covered in blood that might’ve been his own, or his last meal’s.

He peered down at me with all of the eyes that could see me, and furrowed each individual brow in almost imperceptibly fast succession. “Who is this?” he asked, leaning over towards us.

“Off with the helmet,” Magmortarus commanded, pressing the hilt of his weapon to the back of my neck. I stood my ground, and kept it on.

“No,” I denied, “you don’t need to know.”

“Xander,” Solomon recommended softly, “do as he says.”

“Fuck off,” I told him, freezing up.

“Xander, take off your helmet,” Alex chimed in.

Fine. I swallowed my pride, and commanded the helmet to remove itself from my face. Plate by plate, it slid away, and my skin was exposed to the air of the cathedral. He looked down at me, confused. 

“Who are you?” he asked.

I took my guardstaff out of my pocket. “Maybe this will jog your memory.” I pressed the hilt against the side of my cheek, parted my teeth, and summoned the sword, piercing the skin and splattering blood all across my face. The familiar pain came back to me, and I remembered why this was my second least favourite feeling.

Each of Dark Omega’s eyes widened as he recognized me. “Xaneeta?”

I wanted to slice him in half. I wanted to scatter each and every one of his atoms across space and burn each of them in their own, unique star. “My name,” I said, wiping the blood from my cheeks, “is Xander.”

His face seemed to flip through emotions like pages on a paperback book. Bewilderment, pride, concern, joy, sadness, anger, fear, all of them appeared in each of his eyes and upon his mouth. “I- I never knew,” he said, “my- my-!”

“Your son,” I finished for him, gritting my teeth to filter out both of the pains I was feeling. The blood spilled back into my mouth, now, and I began to feel a little dizzy.

Pride overtook his face, then concern. Then, there was rush of air, and his monstrous form begin to warp, and shrank down to the size of a normal person. The pressure differential swept everyone’s hair around, except mine, which stood firm and close to my scalp. He was now standing just before me, his arms outstretched for a hug.

He stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around me. I wanted to stop him, but I was frozen, for one reason or another. “I’m so sorry,” he said, weeping onto my shoulder, “I’ve missed you so much… my… my son…”

I gathered my courage, and pushed him away. “Do you have any idea what the hell you did to me?”

He removed his own helmet, and looked at me with earnest, tearful eyes. “What?”

“So you don’t, then?” I accused him, “All this time and all of her deaths, and you never questioned why?”

He flapped his lips, flustered and confused. “I don’t know what you’re-”

“You made me into a weapon,” I said, my voice cracking, “you never took the time to care about me. All you cared about was racking up as many Guardian kills as you could, and you made me do it for you! You put  _ Chaos _ in charge of raising me! He’s a psychopath!”

The weight of his actions finally seemed to finally be registering, but not the way they should’ve been. “I- I just wanted-” He paused, and rethought what he was saying. “I was given a chance to reshape the universe. To make things the way they should be. I just wanted you to be a part of that!”

“Every day of my life for as long as I can remember, you made me watch Chaos kill hundreds and hundreds of people, and  _ forced  _ me to help him! Do you have  _ any _ idea what that did to me?!”

He was becoming angry. “I let you become a part of my forces! You were important! You had a purpose!”

“Yeah, but not a good one!” I shot back, “What, did you think having your fucking four year old kid watch planets being destroyed at the hands of someone like Chaos would make them into a better person?! Did you think for a second that it didn’t destroy me to have a  _ monster _ like you as a father?!”

“I am not a monster!” he snapped, his teeth slipping into being fangs, “Do you have  _ any _ idea how much work it took to get to where I am now? How much I had to give?!”

“That’s not good enough!” I screamed, “You don’t get to ruin my life because your life was shit!”

He turned away, snarling, and growing ever so slightly, and the faces on his spine began to reappear. “I did this so that the people I loved could live in a better world! I was once a simple servant of a higher power, but look at what I have become now!”

He continued to grow and change, taking longer and longer strides back to the apse at the end of the cathedral, returning to his monstrous state and planetary size. The wind blew again, and the door shut behind us. He turned, and stared down at us, and bared his massive fangs.

“If you will not join me,” he bellowed, “and if you will not obey my wishes, then I will destroy you! Knights! Handle them! Magmortarus, you were right! It is time to do what I should’ve done before!”

Magmortarus and Glacies spun around, and drew their weapons. We clustered together, and drew our own. “Game on, motherfuckers,” I said.

Then, there was a sound, like rain falling down on a roof. “What the hell is that?” Magmortarus asked, pausing to look up at the ceiling of the building. The air was filled with faint, high-pitched rhythmic chanting, repetitive and musical.

_ “Been travellin’ in packs I can’t carry anymore,”  _ a voice sung throughout the hall,  _ “been waitin’ for someone else to carry me,”  _  the door behind us began to rumble and shake,  _ “there’s nothing that’s left for me at my door,”  _ it continued to tremble with a treble beat, cracking all the way up, _ “all the people I know aren’t who they used to be, and if I tried to change my life one more day, there would be nobody else for me to save, and I can’t change into a person I don’t wanna be so-” _

The door broke to pieces, flying all the way across the hall into my father, and, standing there, was Chaos, lifted in the air by Ajay, wings spread, and backed by an army of his duplicates. “OH, IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!” The army came flooding into the hall as Chaos continued to sing, pushing Glacies and Magmortarus down to the ground, and going straight to Dark Omega.

_ “I PRAY FOR THE WICKED ON THE WEEKEND, MAMA CAN I GET ANOTHER AMEN?!”  _ he sang, landing in a flamboyant pose,  _ “SWEAR TO HELL I AIN’T NEVER GONNA RE-PENT, MAMA CAN I GET ANOTHER A-MEN?! OH,”  _ he brought out his guardstaff, summoned a guitar, and struck a violent chord out of it, “IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!”

“AJAY!” Alex said, rushing back to him, “I thought you had died!”

“Looks can be deceiving,” he said, holding his chest, but grinning nonetheless, “for once, Chaos decided to do something productive. Swooped in just when I needed him.”

“I’m sticking it to the man!” he declared proudly, swinging his guitar around, turning it into a cane.

“Give me a moment,” Solomon said, thoroughly confused, “I think- I think I’m hallucinating. Chaos, my brother, an anarchist aligned firmly with evil, is on  _ our  _ side?”

“Well, technically,” Chaos said, “since the highest power in the universe is the default  _ good _ , then that means, by opposing them, I am still, in fact, evil. So, what do you say, brother? How’s about we do this world some  _ bad?” _

Solomon summoned his spear. “You are intolerable.”

“And that is exactly what everyone loves about me!” he said, twirling his cane. 

The army of Chaoses swarmed up and around Dark Omega, clinging to him like he had the gravity of a planet. Each one of them swung and punched and kicked at the glowing stones embedded in his armour, and he swatted at them, knocking them away. Some of them fell to pieces, vibrating into oblivion, but more and more swarmed around him like mosquitoes.

Then, Magmortarus stood up. “YOU!” he said, raising his tool and pointing it at Ajay.

Ajay raised a finger, and pointed to himself. “Me?” 

Magmortarus summoned his massive blade, spread his wings, and took flight.  _ “YOU!” _

“Oh, me?!” Ajay said sarcastically, and took out his own gladius. They took to the sky, clashing against each other. 

Glacies stood up, too, and quickly brought out her weapon to combat Gordon. The poleaxes collided, crackling with energy as they crashed. Gordon flew up, and Glacies shot upwards to meet him.

“So,” Alex asked, “what do we do now?”

As she said it, hundreds upon hundreds of Halfguard came swarming in from the broken doorway, screaming and filling the upper half of the cathedral with a flurry of wings and bodies. 

“Well,” Chaos said, bringing out a machine gun from his guardstaff, “I know what the hell I’m doing!” He turned the gun to the ceiling, and began blasting away. “Join me! The water is fine!”

“Why the hell not?” Alex said, and brought her own pistol guardstaff out, blasting at Halfguard alongside him, “Just try not to hit anyone!”

“I’m not making any promises!” Chaos said, shooting down innumerable amounts of Halfguard in rapid succession.

“I’m gonna punch some shit,” Lena said, and shoved her arm against the ground, lengthening it as she ran, and vaulting up towards the ceiling and clobbering Halfguard out of the air.

“I’m going to kill him,” I said, twirling my sword in my hand, but Solomon stopped me.

“You have a large, bleeding wound on the sides of your face!” he informed me, grabbing me by the arm, “You simply  _ cannot  _ fight in this condition!”

I spat a large glob of blood out of my mouth. “Like hell I can’t.” He held onto me harder.

“I insist!” he repeated, “You are not fighting like that!”

Dark Omega roared in the distance, biting at the air and devouring Halfguard just to get them away from his head.

“ENOUGH!” he declared, slamming his fists into the floor. The earth beneath us trembled and shook in response, and I saw numerous Chaos clones shatter and disappear from his surface. Then, a sudden cold filled the room. I could feel my energy being sapped from me, and I fell to my knees. Solomon cried out in pain, and fell alongside me.

“I- I feel,” he said, “my e-element, it’s- ARGH!” He writhed in pain, then collapsed into his Stone, which fell to the ground. Without his supervision, I tried to stand up and fight, but, sure enough, my muscles gave out on me, and I was laying on my back in the middle of the floor.

With nothing better to do, I looked up at the ceiling, and saw that the others were facing similar problems. Gordon fell out of the sky, alongside a cluster of unconscious Halfguard. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Alex struggling to stay up, and Lena falling from the air as well. Chaos and his clones were also apparently absent, and I could see even more Halfguard falling down. 

Magmortarus and Ajay were still tussling in the air, but Ajay was without his armour or sword, and was pummeling Magmortarus in the face. Then, one more blow to his head, and they both fell to the floor, collapsing on top of a pile of Halfguard. 

“IF NO-ONE WILL STAND WITH ME,” my father proclaimed, “THEN I WILL STAND ALONE! THIS WILL BE MY UNIVERSE, AND MY UNIVERSE ALONE! NOT EVEN OMEGA WILL STAND AGAINST ME!”

My vision blurred, and my head rang. I could feel it coming. The end was here. The shadow that loomed over us all. That last, dark, omega.


	45. Ian- The Zoo Tells Me to Stop Hollering at the Animals

After agonizing hours of flying through space in the ship, I arrived at the Core, and the twenty-some planets orbiting the bright center of the universe appeared on the ship’s viewscreen. “Alright,” I said, “almost there, almost got ‘em!” I could see a pair of ships zipping away from a pair of the planets towards the center, evidently the Hell siblings making good on their promise. 

“Nice,” I commented, and then propelled myself to the center myself. Another ship sped up appeared next to me, sharing in my destination.

“Hey,” Corn called in over the comms, “I got the girls. Any word on the others?”

“No, but I can see ‘em,” I said, “hey, Hells! You guys got the payload?”

The audio feeds from their ships cut in, and I was assaulted by a market square’s worth of voices. “THIS FUCKING SUCKS!” Absinthe yelled over the commotion. 

I cut off the connection and confirmed with Corn. “They got ‘em.”

“Great,” he said, “let’s pop down to the sun and tear us a hole in the universe.”

“That’s not what it is!” Aubrey chimed in.

“Literally nobody asked, okay?” Corn quieted her.

“You were still wrong,” she objected.

The ships all converged at the edge of the Core, and pierced the membrane, landing on the lawn of the cathedral-council-place-whatever. I stepped out of my ship, and saw the others filing out of their own vessels like they were fucking clown cars. Killian and Absinthe headed the charges out of their respective ships, angry and dishevelled.

Absinthe turned to face me and point an angry finger, which one shall be left ambiguous, but was quickly overrun by the mob that escaped the ship behind her.

Corn and the girls emerged from their ship, and he came up to me to shake my hand firmly, saying, “This had better work, you grape-flavoured dipshit.”

“Yeah,” I said, failing to come up with anything better because I’m an idiot. “Alright, everyone inside!” I tried to shout over them all, but to no avail.

“Let me handle this,” Aubrey said, and held up her guardstaff. She created a bullhorn from it, and shouted into it, “EVERYONE GET INTO THE CHURCH OR YOU DOOM THE FUCKING UNIVERSE YOU GREEDY LITTLE SHITS!”

They noticed that time. Suddenly, they all began to shuffle past the large wooden doors into the building, leaving Corn and myself behind. “Can guardstaffs really do that?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “They can now.”

We rushed behind them into the cathedral, where they were all standing huddled in the center, confused. Alpha, at the other end of the hall, stood up from their seat, and looked at the pair of us at the back of the room. “Children, what is this?”

“You said to find the last Stone of Sound,” I said, taking the bag of Chaos’ shards out of my pocket, “well, look what I got.”

They peered at it. “What is in that bag?”

“Chaos’ remains,” Aubrey volunteered, “if he has all the shards, he can use them to open the portal.”

Alpha looked shocked. “Wh- what? No, no, I cannot allow you to do this!”

“Why not?” I asked, dumping the contents of the bag out onto my other hand, “Listen, man, I got nothing to lose, here. I’m doing whatever the hell I want.”

“No!” they refused, shaking their head in denial, “The use of those shards could-”

“I know what they do,” I interjected, “and I’m ready. Alpha, I can feel, on the edge of the universe, something big is coming, right towards us, just light-minutes away! If we don’t do this now-”

“NO!” they refused again, more forcefully, “I am not letting you do this! Nothing should ever come at a cost like-”

“I DON’T CARE!” I shouted, “You will help me open this portal to save our friends, or so help me, I will rip the universe open, stare in the face of God, and walk backwards into hell!” I gripped the shards in my hand, and I could feel them vibrating and trembling, trying to integrate into my body.

Alpha frowned. “Fine. But, this time, we will all go into that realm, so that we can all come home. Everyone, stand around the edge!”

The crowd of Guardians did as they said, pressing themselves up in a wonky rectangle against their tables. I was situated with Corn on one side, and Drannis on the other. She gave me a reassuring look, and gripped my unoccupied hand.

“Let’s do this, my man,” she said. 

I smiled at her. “Darn tootin’.”

Corn put his own hand on my shoulder. “Don’t you dare blow this for us.”

“No pressure, right?” I said nervously.

Aubrey came up from behind and gripped my forearm. “You know damn well there’s more pressure on you than anyone else in the history of the universe.”

“Yeah, great, thanks, got it,” I said, now sweating nervously. Lastly, Jane put her hand on my other shoulder.

“Save them,” she said simply, looking at me with her puppydog eyes, on the verge of tears.

I nodded. I opened my palm, and fingered at the shards. “Let’s do this shit.” I brought the shards up to my forehead, and prepared myself for the plunge. As if on command, they twisted and twirled in my hand, reorganizing themselves. I took a deep breath, and gulped. 

In a flash of brave stupidity, I shoved the crystals into my forehead, and O̴͟҉h̸͟,̷͜͢ ̛҉̢t̵̛̛̕h̢͜͞i͘͡͝͝s͜͝҉̴ ̨͟i̷̶̡͞s̢̕͜͜ ̵̕͞v̵̧e͜҉̛͟r̛̕y̶̷̕͝ ̴͘͘s̡̨͘t҉͞r̴͝a̵̕n͏̛g̴͠e͢͏ felt a new surge of insane personality flood my brain, and Į̧ ̸̢̢͢͞d͞͡o̷̢̧̕͏n҉͘͢҉'̢͜͏t̶̡͠ ͡͡t͘͜͝h̷̵̛͡i̧̢͟͜n̛͡k̛͘͢͝ ̶͝I̶͘͟͢'v̢͡͝e̸͠͏ ҉̴͝d͘͏̕͢o̡̡n̷̕͢͡͠e͟͏̧̕ ̶̴̛t͞҉h̷̸͝i̢̛̕̕͡s̢͢ ̴̶͘b̵̨̢̕ȩ̴f̶͞ǫ̵̸̡͝r͟͠e͟͠, pain filled my skull and skin. I cried out in pain, and would’ve w̷͢e̸̵l̢҉̛l̡̡̕͝͝,҉̷͏ ͞m̛̕͟҉a͘͢y̴̡b̶̢͘e͏̴̕͡҉,̡͝ ̷̶̴͢o̷̸̴̧͘n̨͘͠l̶̨y̨̕͜͜ ̶͠on̨̨͝ce̡͜,̴̷ fallen to my knees if everyone hadn’t been supporting me.

“I’m rrrEADAYYY!” I cried out, b̸̕u͢͟t̷̵҉͏ ̶̢͘͡w͞͠ȩ̸'͟͟r͘͜e͟͏̴͘ ̧̨͜s̴̡͝u̵p̷̵̷͘͢p̷͘͏͘͝o͠͡s̷͝e̡̛d̵̴̨ ̴̨̡͞t̨o͡ ̸̴̷̡̡b̵̕e͘͡ ̛͞d͟͝e҉̶͡a͘̕͟ḑ̵͡͏,͘͏͢in a voice that only echoed my own. “It’s time to blow this motherfucking popsicle stand!”

Alpha nodded, fear creeping into their eyes, but said, commandingly, “Now, everyone, your powers!”

Dozens l̡̕͜i̶̶k̴̶͝e҉̸͡ ͜ȩg̸̵̢̕͜g̨̨͘s͠ ҉̡҉o̸̸͝͏̨r̵̢̕ ̢̡b̷̷̨a̵͢͡k҉͞҉̛e͠r҉̛͜s҉͞͏̸ of arms were extended, and the portal began to open. I stuck o҉̸͏ư̵͢͟r͝͏̸̨ my hands out, and felt as two separate but intertwined streams of energy were projected from my body, and towards the portal. The floor vanished, and was replaced with an image of a tiled marble floor covered in H̸̸̴̴͘a̛͞͠l̕͡͏̶f̴͜g҉͞͏҉u̴͢͢͡a̸̧̨͜͡r̨͞͏d̸͜͜͝ ̡̢͘b̧҉͡ơ̕d̴͏į̕e̸͞͏͡s̶̡̡̢̛ rubble, and I felt a sudden urge to throw myself down through it.

“GERONIMO!” I w̴͢e̷̸҉͏  exclaimed, and threw myself down through the void. I fell headfirst, staring down at the floor, but I could hear the others shouting and screaming behind me. O͠͏h̴̷̷̕,̸ ͏̡̛h̶̢͟e͜͝r̕͞o͘͢i͟҉̴c͏̶̛s͘͢?̛͠͠͏̧ ̡͠͡͞W̶̵̡͏e̡͞͏̢l͘͞l̸,̷͜ ̨͘͟҉ţ̛̕͢h̸a̵͞t̴͟'̷̶̨͝ş͏͘ ͏̶҉c̢̢͝e͢͝͠͝r͝t҉̵͡ai̸͠n̴̸͜ļ̢͏y̛͘͏͡ ̵̶͢n̢͏͘͠e͞҉̶͡w̴̧ ̶͘f̛͢o̡͝ŗ̸̢͡ ̷҉̛҉m̧̛͢͡͝e͠.͟͜

“TO VICTORY, MY GUARDIANS!” Alpha exclaimed, hot on my heels. Then, I passed the threshold of the portal, and, suddenly, Chaos’ insanity evaporated from my mind, his shards falling out of my head, and I felt immensely weak. I tried to summon my armour, but it didn’t come. I managed to turn in the air, and landed on my feet, but the force was too great, and I could hear something crack as I landed. 

“AH!” I cried out, falling forwards. Other Guardians landed on all sides of me, to varying degrees of success. Some of them landed poorly like I did, falling to the floor, and others, like Drannis and Aubrey, managed to get in a few feet of movement before being overwhelmed by whatever forces were at work in this world.

I pushed myself up, and could see a giant man-like monster standing at the end of a massive cathedral, and innumerable halfguard flying about the ceiling, slowly dropping like flies. My friends were all lying on the ground, mixed amongst the Halfguard that had already fallen. Well, this was less than ideal. 

“Dark, ah, Omega,” Alpha said, still upright, struggling, and moving towards the other end of the hall, “I demand you put, ah, an end to this!”

The man-monster laughed like a machine-gun earthquake, fast, booming and powerful. “What will you do if I do not? Once, you were a god, now, you stand before me, stripped of your power, the last line of defense for your universe. I’d say it’s almost too easy, but we know what happens to the heroes who say that, now don’t we?”

Shadowy tendrils shot out from the dark cloud that surrounded the monster, and wrapped themselves around Alpha and the fallen Guardians. All of them except me. No, I was left behind, broken on the floor. 

I was alone. Everyone was going to die. Because of me. Because I wanted to save them. Because I couldn’t.

The Guardians screamed and cried out, begging for mercy, but none came. We were doomed.

Dark Omega cackled again. “Now, the only question is, which of you do I want to kill first?”

And it was all my fault. I had killed them. Until, it seemed, I hadn’t.

Someone pulled themself out from the rubble, shaking off the fallen rocks and Halfguard, strong enough to fight back. Ajay. He looked up at them, surveying the destruction and mayhem. And then, he turned to me. His eyes lit up with fear and sadness and joy and confusion, and he ran towards me, refusing to feel the weakness that Dark Omega had imposed upon us.

He moved over the rubble and bodies, crossing the hall at a speed I didn’t know he could reach. He came to my side, and propped me up.

“Ian? Ian, is that you? Is it really you?” he asked, frantic, tears spilling from his eyes.

“I’m not Jared Leto, that’s for sure,” I joked, but I was then struck by another wave of pain. 

He cracked a smile. Then, that smile faded. “Ian, I love you,” he said, “and I-I want, I wanted you to know. All this time, I missed you so much, and I never told you. I can’t lose you again. I won’t let myself.”

“What are you-” I tried, but he stopped me, putting his lips up against mine. He held them there for a long time, his hands feeling me all over, desperate for all of me he could find.

He pulled away, and took a large gasp of air. “I love you,” he repeated, “and I’m going to save you. I love you.” He stood up, and turned away, and began to run across the battlefield.

“AJAY, NO!” I cried out, but I was still unable to stand up, much less stop him. I saw his wings begin to spread, and he held the hilt of a weapon in his hand. Up and up he flew, towards the head of the titan. “NO!” I repeated, reaching out, desperate and afraid.

The tendrils that had ensnared Alpha were now bringing them towards Dark Omega’s gaping maw, prepared to devour them. Then, Ajay soared over them, summoning a giant blade, directly into the mouth of the beast.

“THIS IS FOR IAN!” he declared,  and vanished into its jaw. Suddenly, his wings broke through the sides of its mouth, ripping holes in the cheeks. It cried out in pain, and its tendrils vanished, releasing the Guardians. 

I wanted to cry out again, but, as the wings were spread, my power returned to me, and I realized I could do more than just cry out. My armour slipped over my body, and I held out my scimitar.

“Alright, fucker!” I said, pointing my blade at him, my powers over Reality surging, “I don’t give a FUCK who the hell you think you are, but I’m the one in charge here now! You might set the playing field, but I’m the kid who changes the rules so he can win no matter what! So, now that that’s established, let me set this one straight.”

I could sense all the probabilities of this immense, massive universe pop into my head, and I knew I could manipulate them all, change them the way I wanted. “THIS TIME, AND EVERY TIME, NO MATTER HOW MANY GAMES YOU TRY TO PLAY ON THIS BOARD, I WILL ALWAYS WIN!”

The probabilities shifted, and I knew exactly how this would end. Then, something unexpected happened. From the exact spot where Ajay had risen before, rose…

“AJAY?!” I exclaimed, and he turned around to face me.

“Oh, hey,” he said with a small smirk, “glad you could make it.”

“But who was- you-?!” I stammered, “You just-?!”

He held out his guardstaff, and twirled the flaming gladius. “I don’t know what the hell you’re on about, man,” he said nonchalantly, “whatever you think I did, I swear it was my evil twin.”

He spread his wings, and flew up into the air. “LET’S FUCK THIS SHIT UP, BOYS!” All the Guardians raised their weapons, and roared into battle. Then, hundreds upon hundreds of white-clad clones shot up from the ground and all about Dark Omega’s body. Suddenly, he was lit up with hundreds upon hundreds of combatants striking at his skin, knocking crystals and plates off of him.

Alpha floated in the air, and shot blasts of rainbow-white energy from their hands, scorching his body and severing Stones from him. His massive form was lit up with elemental blasts and projectiles of all kinds, like a symphony of beautiful mayhem.

Dark Omega took blow after blow after blow, shrinking in size every second. Rocks and plasma blasts and lightning bolts pounded against his surface, and he roared in anger. He tried to swipe at them all, but only had a small effect on the clones that swarmed about his body.

Ajay tossed a fireball into one of his eyes, and he reeled backwards. Finally done with our shit, Dark Omega began to vibrate and almost glow with energy, and then roared, releasing a sonic blast, shattering most of the clones on his body.

“CEASE THIS!” he demanded.

“NO WAY, FUCKER!” Lena declared, and grew her arm, and clocked him across the face with it. He screamed, but she kept pounding away at him. He finally batted her away, but still had to deal with Alpha running those beams of light up and around his body.

“AJAY!” I heard Xander cry, standing in the middle of the battlefield, “GET ME UP THERE!”

“No problemo!” he said, and swooped down to pick him up. Xander dripped blood from his cheeks as they flew, and drew his orange blade. 

“ALRIGHT,  _ DAD,”  _ he exclaimed, raising his blade, “THIS ONE’S FOR YOU!” Ajay dropped him over Dark Omega’s forehead, and he screamed with rage as he fell, the blade extending as he went, and, as his father looked up at him, Xander pierced his forehead with the now giant blade, slotting directly between his eyes. Dark Omega screamed in pain, and began to shrink. His skin and body cracked, releasing fire and light from inside of himself. Then, in a flash of light and sound and flame, he exploded, scattering metal plates and shattered Stones behind in his wake. The battle was won.

Xander fell from the sky, and landed firmly on his feet. “See you in hell.”

The fighting ceased, and Halfguard began to fall from the sky again. More and more fell, and Solomon eventually had to declare, “Everyone out! If we don’t leave now, we’ll all be buried alive!”

They all took his word for it, and everyone ran out from the cathedral, narrowly evading falling Halfguard. We scrambled to the door, and all of us managed to get out. Except, of course, for one conspicuous moron.

“I’m coming too!” Chaos said, frantically hopping over the bodies.

“Oh, no,” Xander denied, “you are staying right there!”

“But I-” Chaos tried, but, simultaneously, Xander, Cornelius and I all denied him, saying “Eat my ass!” as one unit. Xander blasted him back with a soundwave, and he was quickly buried beneath the falling Halfguard. 

“You’ll regret this!” Chaos declared, muted by the bodies.

“Unlikely,” Aubrey said.

We had all now escaped the building, and we were safe. Then, I remembered something.

“Uh, guys,” I said, “this universe is still moving at incredible speeds towards ours, right?”

Solomon’s eyes widened. “Oh, SHIT!”


	46. Ajay- The Dimension Goes Nyoom

“So, who knows how to fix this one?” I asked. There were confused mutterings, but, eventually, someone stood out.

“I can do it,” Glacies offered, “with enough power, I can-”

“Wait, is that Julienne?” Ian asked, “What the hell is going-”

“Shut up, boyfriend,” I told him, “Glacies, what are you thinking of?”

She looked to Gordon. “My powers. Velocity. I can change which way this universe is going, with enough additional power and enough time. But… but it might…”

Gordon put his hand on her shoulder, and Alex interpreted this, saying, “It’s gonna kill you, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “It’s fine, though, I deserve it. I know I’ve been a bit… bipolar, heh, but… maybe I can do some good for once.”

Alpha looked at her sadly. “Child, if you believe you can do it, then I will give you the power. But it must be done soon, this world is dangerously close to ours. I will give you time to think this over, but…”

“I got it,” she said, sniffling, “it’ll be a new experience for me, then.”

Gordon signed something, and Alex spoke for him. “Not for Gordon.”

“What?” she asked.

“He’s died before,” Ian explained, “he’s sacrificed himself before.”

Gordon signed again, and Alex spoke again. “He wants to help, even if it means what he thinks it means.”

Alpha stepped towards the pair of them. “Your choice shall be your choice, and I will honour it.”

Gordon and Glacies took each others’ hands and faced their partner. They looked to Alpha, and nodded. Alpha stepped towards them, and put their hands on their shoulders. “I wish you only the best, my children.”

The pair of them began to glow slightly, wrapped in a halo of light, and their armour fell away. “Thank you,” Glacies said, turning to both Alpha and Gordon.

Alpha nodded. “It is time for us to go, but we will not forget you or your service.”

Alex came over to the both of them, and hugged them tight, tears escaping her eyelids. “You two be good, alright?” she said, her voice cracking.

Gordon smiled, and nuzzled his head up against hers.

Ian went up to Gordon, and gripped his shoulder as well. “Hey, it was nice knowin’ ya, pal.” Gordon smiled at him, too.

“What about me?” Glacies asked with a sarcastic chuckle.

“Nobody cares about you,” Aubrey answered, “they just don’t.” Glacies laughed nervously, and Aubrey replied to this by saying, “I wasn’t joking.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Glacies said, ignoring her.

“Let’s go,” I said briskly, “no use wasting time here. Gonna miss you, guy.” Gordon nodded, and the rest of us circled up.

“Now, my children,” Alpha declared, “it is time to go home.”

All thirty-some of us held hands, linking together. To my left, Ian, and, to my right, Alex. Xander and Cornelius held hands on the other side of the circle, Cornelius whispering something into Xander’s ear which made him curl his lip into a snarl.

I could feel our power building and growing, and then, the portal had opened beneath us. It was still a rectangle, because stupid.

“See you on the other side,” I muttered. Then, like a snap, everyone began to step forward, and leapt down into the portal. Ian held my hand as we fell down it this time. Together. There was also a conspicuous pair of gunshots from the top of the portal, just before Xander fell down, following Cornelius. Don’t know what that was about.

The portal sealed shut above us, and we all fell down through it, landing in a pile in the middle of Alpha’s cathedral. I hit my nose against the tiled floor. “FUCK!” I exclaimed, and then even more expletives as the others fell on top of me.

“GET OFF ME!” I exclaimed. It took us a few minutes, but we eventually untangled ourselves.

There was a mess of happy greeting between our little team, especially Alex excitedly hugging Drannis and Jane. Cornelius and Xander hugged each other, and Lena was, as usual, fuming in her own little bubble of space that people just naturally created around her.

“Come here, jackass,” I said, and pulled Ian closer to myself. He looked down at me, and I looked up at him. “Good to see you again, man.”

“Ha, you have no fucking idea,” he said, and wiped a curl of hair out of his face.

“Get your dumb face over here, idiot,” I said, and pulled him into a kiss. I held him close and tight, glad, more than anything else, to have him back with me.

I pulled away, and asked, “Any word on the giant conglomerate universe that’s supposed to be crashing into us any minute now?”

“It’s heading the other way,” he said, smiling sadly, “I can feel it.”

“Good,” I said, “that means we don’t have to be woken up by an extinction-level event tomorrow morning.”

He chuckled. “Ajay?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we could, like, share a bed tonight?”

“Sounds good to me,” I answered, smiling.

“Pardon me, but,” Solomon said, twirling around and counting heads, “where are Absinthe and Killian?”

“Unimportant,” Xander said, ruffling Corn’s hair.

“I think you are misunderstanding-”

“Shut up,” Xander and Cornelius said in unison.

“Well, my friends,” Alpha said, “I thank you all for your assistance, but, now that this world is safe again, it is time to leave, and enjoy the spoils of your work. Go in peace, my children, and I wish you all the best.”

  
  


All of our Earth-bound team left in one ship, and the rest left in the other pair of ships that had been left on the lawn. A couple hours of uncomfortable cabin time later, and we arrived back at our cul-de-sac. Solomon, who was piloting the ship, landed in the center of the street, to which Ian responded by claiming “AHA! I _knew_ I parked it right!”

We all left for our homes, and Ian and I returned to ours. The tray of slightly-torched brownies was still on the counter, likely stale, but good enough for Ian to carve one out.

“So, did these brownies come like this,” he asked, “or did you toast them yourself?”

“I’m not answering that,” I denied, sitting down on the couch.

“Come on, man,” he said with a laugh, “did you or didn’t you?”

“I’m not telling!” I said, switching on the TV. Yup. Still porn. Great. “We really need to do something about this thing,” I told him, and flicked through other channels

Ian brought a plate with a pair of the toasted brownies, and sat down on the couch with me. “How about _Arthur_?” he offered.

“That’s a kids’ show, man,” I told him.

“Still,” he argued, “it’s well written, the characters are fun, and, up until a certain season that we do not speak of, has some pretty nice animation.” He leaned on my arm, and nuzzled up against me.

I smiled, and rolled my eyes. “Fine. _Arthur_ it is.” I changed the channel, and the familiar theme played.

We sat there, just enjoying each other’s company, and, after a while, Ian asked, “Do you want to go to prom at all?”

I scoffed. “I barely go to school. I’ve been too busy with space magic shit.”

“I know,” he said, “it’s just- it’s like, in a week, I think, and- wait, what’s the date?” He tried to turn on his phone, but it was apparently dead. “Damn.”

“Well,” I offered, “do you want to go?”

“... Little bit,” he answered with a chuckle, “it’s, like, the fourteenth of June or something, isn’t it? What’s today?”

I pulled out my own phone, which was somehow still intact and somehow still charged. “April sixth.” There was a pause, and then, I asked, “Do we have a verdict?”

“I dunno,” he said, and looked down at me, “you got one?”

I smiled, and laughed. “With you? I’d love to.” I kissed him on the cheek, and resumed watching the show. For once, it was good to be home.


	47. Epilogue- Those We Left Behind

Eombra stood in the middle of a graveyard, staring down at a trio of graves, all of which belonged to her family. She placed the three black roses down, one for each of them. One for her mother, one for her father, and the last for her son. Nobody wanted to let his body be buried or left to be respected, considering what he had done, but Eombra had pressed hard for her son to receive a grave, in spite of what he had done to everyone, including her.

She wiped a tear from her eye, and said to the graves, “I miss you.”

Then, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned, and saw an older man striding along the graveyard’s path. He came up beside her, and looked to Bracer’s grave. “It’s sad,” he said, “what happened to him. I knew him as a boy, you know.”

“Were you one of his teachers?” she asked him.

He chuckled mirthlessly. “I tried to be,” he answered, “he was a very difficult child.”

She chuckled in much the same way. “You don’t know the half of it.”

They shared a laugh, and their eyes met. “Have we met before?”

He shrugged. “Maybe at a PTA meeting.” He offered her his hand. “I’m Solomon,” he said, “Aharon Solomon.”

“Eombra,” she said, taking his hand, “Eombra Withers.”

He smiled at her. “I have to get going,” he said, removing his hand, “but I wouldn’t mind seeing you again.”

“Me neither,” she agreed, “uhm, uh,” she felt her pockets for something, “do you have a pen and/or a napkin?”

He produced the requested objects from his own pocket, and offered them to her. She scribbled a string of numbers with the pen down onto the napkin, and offered it back to him. “Just if you feel like it.”

He took the note, and replied, “I would.” He walked away, and Eombra was by herself again. But not alone. She patted the graves one by one, and then walked away as well. Now, she could feel at peace. Now, she could learn to be happy.


	48. Epilogue- The Banished One

The cathedral was silent. The pile hundreds upon hundreds of Halfguard bodies lay still, as did the building. Until, suddenly, something broke free of them. A single hand, clawing its way out of the heaps, followed by another, and then a whole person popped out. Chaos stood on top of the pile of bodies, and surveyed the situation.

“Well,” he remarked, “this is… shit.”

Then, someone else entered the cathedral. Cloaked in a black, hooded robe, they strode in through the destroyed door.

“Erm, excuse me?” Chaos said, “But, who the hell are you?”

The visitor ignored him, stepping forward through the hall.

Chaos began to climb down the pile to meet him. “I asked you a question,” he said indignantly, but still the cloaked man ignored him.

The man sighed. “It’s sad,” they said, “I gave him a shot at power, and he ruined it.”

“I beg your pardon?” Chaos asked, “Listen, if you don’t give me an answer, then I will-”

The cloaked man stuck a hand out from under his robe, and pressed it against Chaos’ chest. In a matter of seconds, everything that he was was erased from existence. “It’s not important,” the man dismissed.

They looked up at the pile of bodies, and huffed. “I suppose I will just have to do it on my own, this time.” They pressed their hand against the ground, and it began to crumble away and vanish from existence. 

“I suppose I should get to work on that.”


End file.
